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BL  1801  .P24  1905 

Parker,  Edward  Harper, 

1849- 

1926. 

China  and  religion 

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CHINA    AND    RELIGION 


Father  Hwang,  secular  priest  (affiliated  to  the  Jesuits)  at  Nanking, 
a  distinguished  and  profound  theological  scholar.  The  antique 
characters  signify  "  ancient  few  dwelling,"  i.e.  "  the  septua- 
genarian's abode,"  because  "from  ancient  times  but  few"  have 
reached  that  age.     The  date  in  the  corner  is  equivalent  to  1899. 

^^Frontispiece, 


CHINA  AND  RELIGION 


BY  EDWARD  HARPER  PARKER,  M.A.  (Manc.) 

PROFESSOR   OF   CHINESE   AT  THE   VICTORIA   UNIVERSITY, 
MANCHESTER. 

AUTHOR   OF   "CHINA,"    "JOHN   CHINAMAN,"    "CHINA,    PAST  AND 
PRESENT,"   ETC. 


'V"  '-.     'i^-^ 


^     FtD  _.i910 


<%/C/L  Sl^^V# 


.\* 


NEW   YORK 
E.   P.   BUTTON    AND   COMPANY 

1905 


Printed  in  Great  Britain. 


My  affectionate  old  friend  died  at  Shanghai  on  the 
2'jth  June,  almost  as  I  wrote  these  lines. 

E.  H.  P. 


Printed  in  Great  Britain. 


DEDICATED 


Rev.   a.  COLOMBEL,  S.J. 

(shanghai). 


NOCTURNA    INGEMISCENTIS   ANIMAE   MEDITATIO. 

Fatalis  ruit  hora,  Leo,  jam  tempus  abire  est, 

Pro  meritisque  viam  carpere  perpetuam, 
Quae  te  sors  maneat?    Coelum  sperare  jubebant 

Largus  contulerat  quae  tibi  dona  Deus  ; 
At  summas  claves,  immenso  pondere  munus 

Tot  tibi  gestum  annos — haec  meditare  gemens. 
Qui  namque  in  populis  excelso  praestat  honore, 

Hei  misero  I  poenas  acrius  inde  luet. 
Haec  inter  trepido  dulcis  succurrit  imago 

Dulcior  atque  animo  vox  sonat  alloquii  : 
Quid  te  tanta  premit  formido  ?  aevique  peracti 

Quid  seriem  repetens  tristia  corde  foves  ? 
Christus  adest  miserans,  humili  veniamque  roganti 

Erratum — ah  !  fidas — eluet  omne  tibi. 

—{Death-bed  of  Pope  Leo  XIII). 


PREFACE 

I  MUST  apologise  for  a  certain  irregularity  in  the 
spelling  of  Indian,  Persian.  Arabic,  and  other 
foreign  words.  For  instance,  "  Canouge  "  instead 
of  "  Kanuj,"  and  doubtless  many  others  in  the 
same  category.  Not  knowing  any  West  Asian 
language,  I  take  the  spelling  which  occurs  in  the 
best  books  I  have  consulted,  some  of  which  are 
more  "up  to  date "  than  others  ;  or  I  adopt  the 
"  usual "  spelling.  I  have  at  least  tried  to  be 
consistent  in  my  irregularity  ;  and,  after  all,  in  a 
book  on  Religion,  scientific  spelling  is  not  of  the 
essence.  In  Chinese  words,  of  course,  I  profess 
to  be  right  according  to  my  own  ideas  of  what 
is  right ;  though  even  here  I  occasionally  use 
well-known  or   "popular"  forms. 

E.   H.  PARKER. 


1 8  Gambier  Terrace, 
Liverpool,  2()th  June  1905. 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES 

In    giving  a   list  of   "authorities"  which    may  be 
usefully  consulted,  I  do  not  profess  to  have  drawn 
up  a  complete  list,  or  to  have  always  accepted  any 
one  as  an  authority  myself,  where  I  have  found  it 
possible  to  go  further  back.     The  ultimate  or  most 
remote   authority    is,    of  course,    always    the    best. 
For  instance,  in  the  case  of  Taoism,  the  Chinese 
authors  are  absolutely  the  sole  original  authorities, 
and  the  translators  and  opinionists  can  at  best  have 
but  secondary  value  ;  in  this  particular  instance,   I 
chiefly   recognise   as    possessing   sterling   collateral 
value  the  opinions  of  M.  Chavannes,  as  given  in 
his  masterly  introduction   to  the  Shi-ki  {M^moires 
Historiques)   of   Sz-ma    Ts'ien ;    and    to    a  certain 
extent  also  the  opinions  of  the  late  Mr  Faber,  as 
published  in  various  numbers  of  the  China  Review ; 
because    they    two   alone    appear    to    me    to    have 
conscientiously,  and  with  full  competence,  examined 
all   the   Chinese  originals  they  could   get   hold    of 
in  an    unbiassed   spirit.     I    regard    M.    Chavannes 
as    the    soundest   and    most    industrious    of    living 
sinologists.     The  religious  works  of  the  venerable 
Paul  Hwang  (now  approaching  his  8oth  year)  are 
very    profound,    and   of  course    no    European    can 


X  LIST   OF   AUTHORITIES 

pretend  to  his  wide  capacity  for  research  ;  but 
then  he  is  a  priest,  and  can  only  pubHsh  what  his 
masters,  the  Jesuits,  approve  ;  still,  he  appears  to 
me  to  be  a  man  of  wonderfully  clear  and  honest 
views,  nor  have  I  ever  discovered  any  hiding  away 
of  the  truth  in  his  writings.  In  the  same  way  Dr 
Legge,  whose  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  classics 
was  unequalled,  had  always  to  approach  the  subject 
of  religion  as  a  missionary,  and  no  doubt  as  a 
convinced  one;  hence  his  "detachment"  was  not 
complete.  No  one  has  done  greater  general 
service  to  sinology,  including,  indirectly,  religious 
sinology,  than  the  late  Dr  Bretschneider  ;  but  (as 
he  frequently  told  me  himself)  he  was  largely 
inspired  by  Palladius,  a  student  of  original  texts 
of  vast  and  retentive  memory  ;  and  over  and  over 
again  he  honestly  repudiated  the  "charge"  of 
being  a  first-hand  sinologist.  It  does  not,  how- 
ever, appear  to  me  to  matter  much  whether  a 
man  is  a  blacksmith  or  a  sinologist,  so  long  as 
he  discovers  the  means  and  possesses  the  aptitude 
for  forming  and  expressing  sound  opinions  on 
accepted  facts,  supported  by  all  available  evi- 
dence ;  and,  after  all,  "sinologists"  are  only  those 
European  students  who  have  gone  a  certain 
modest  distance — very  modest — in  the  direction 
of  consulting  Chinese  literature  without  native 
aid.  I  am  one  of  these,  but  I  often  feel  that  I 
have  not  gone  so  far  as  I  might  have  gone,  and 
that  even  a  long  life  will  not  enable  any  of  us 
to  go  very  far  with  present  appliances.     But  these 


LIST   OF   AUTHORITIES  xi 

appliances  are  being  added  to  every  day,  and 
each  successive  Qreneration  will  find  that  the 
clearances  made  in  the  jungle  of  neglected  litera- 
ture by  his  predecessors  do  materially  shorten  his 
labours. 

E.   H.   Parker. 

Shi-ki  {'B.C.  4000-B.C.  90),  Chapters  i.-iv.,  diVid.  passifu. 

Les  Saintes  Instructions  de  LEmpereur  Hong-wou. 

By  Edouard  Chavannes,  Hanoi  :  F.  H.  Schneider,  1903. 

Les  Memoires  historiques  de  Sz-ma  TsHen. 

By  Edouard  Chavannes,  Paris :  Ernest  Leroux,  1 895-1 901. 

Han  Shu  (Han  Dynasty,  B.C.  206-A.D.  i.),  Chapter  Ixxxviii. 

Nan  5/«' (Nanking  Dynasties,  A.D.  420-580),  Chapter  Ixxv. 

Taoism  and  the  Tao-teh  King. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "Dublin  Review,"  July-January,  1903-1904. 

Life,  Labours,  and  Doctrines  of  Co7tfucius. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,"  April  1897. 

Li-k''uh  (Recesses  of  Truth),  "Catholic  Press,"  Shanghai,  1886. 

The  Ephthalite  Turks. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,"  July  1902. 

Hou  Han  Shu  (Later  Han,  a.d.  2^-220), passim. 

Tsih-shuioh  Ts''iian-chen  (Eclectic  Truth). 

By  Rev.  Paul  Hwang,  "Catholic  Press,"  Shanghai,  1879. 

Vie,  ou  L^gefide,  de  Gaudama  (second  edition). 

By  Monsigneur  p.  Bigandet,  Paris  :  Ernest  Leroux,  1878. 

Sui  Shu  (Sui  Dynasty,  a.d.  580-618),  Chapter  xxxv. 

Handbook  of  Chinese  Buddhism. 

By  E.  J.  ElTEL,  Hongkong  :  Lane  Crawford  &  Co.,  1870. 

(Le  Bouddhisme  Chinois,  Museon,  Louvain,  1903. 
Chinese  Buddhism,  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,"  October  1902. 
Both  by  E.  H.  PARKER  (translated  by  M.  de  la  V.  POUSSIN). 

Tsin  Shu  (Tsin  Dynasties,  A.D.  265-317-420),  jzJa.yj'z'w. 
Wei  C^i(Wei  Dynasty,  A.D.  220-265)  Chapter  xxx. 

Chinese  Knowledge  of  Early  Persia. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,"  January  1903. 


xii  LIST   OF   AUTHORITIES 


:r^  -Jf }  (T'ang  Dynasty,  a.d.  618-905)     {^l^^]''  ^'^^^:. 
r'anp-  Snu)  I  Chapter  ccxvii. 


Old  T\ 

New  T'ang  Shu)    ^         °      j     -  j^  ^  j'     (chapte 

Wei  Shu  (Toba  Tartars,  a.d.  386-550)  Chapter  cxiv. 

Musulmans  et  Manicheens  chinois. 

By  Gabriel  Dev^ria,  Paris  :  Imprimerie  Nationale,  1898. 

Le  Nestorianisme  et  rinscription  de  Kara-balgassoun. 

By  Edouard  ChavanneS,  Paris  :  Imprimerie  Nationale,  1897. 

Videe  du  PdchS  chez  les  Indo-Eraniens  de  t antiquity. 
By  L.  C.  Ca.sartelli,  Fribourg  (Suisse),  1898. 

The  Magi,  a  footnote  to  Matthew  ii.  i. 

By  L.  C.  Casartelli,  "  Dublin  Review, '  October  1902. 

The  Early  Christian  Road  to  China. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,"  October  1903. 

China,  the  Avars,  and  the  Franks. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,"  April  1902. 

Services  of  Turks  in  joining  Civilizations. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,"  April  1904. 

La  StUe  Chritienne  de  Si-ngan-Fou. 

By  Henri  Havret,  S.J.,  "Catholic  Press,"  Shanghai,  1895,  1897. 

Notes  on  the  Nestoria?is  in  China. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  Shanghai,  1890. 

The  Nestorian  Tablet. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "  Dublin  Review,"  October  1902. 

Origine  de  P/slajftisfue  en  Chine. 

By  Gabriel  Deveria,  Paris  :  Imprimerie  Nationale,  1895. 

Inscriptions  Juives  de  K'ai-fong-fou. 

By  Jerome  Tobar,  SJ.,  "Catholic  Press,"  Shanghai,  1900. 

History  of  the  Churches  in  China. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  China  Mail  Office,  Hongkong,  1896. 
Yiian  ^^i' (Mongols,  A.D.  1206-1368),  Chapters  i.-xi.,  cxxv.,  passim. 

Calendrier-Annuaire  for  1904- 1905. 
"Catholic  Press,"  Shanghai,  1905. 

Notes  depigraphie  Mongole-Chinoise. 

By  Gabriel  Deveria,  Paris  :  Imprimerie  Nationale,  1897. 

Inscriptions  it  pihes  de  chancellerie  chinoises  de  lepoque  mongole. 

By  Edouard  Chavannes,  Leide  :  E.  J.  Brill,  1905. 
Historia    Ecclesiarum    Sinarmn   Societati  Missionum    ad    Exteros 
Commissaruni 

By  Edm.  Wallays,  Penang  (about)  1880. 


LIST   OF   AUTHORITIES  xiii 

Marco  Polo,  Marsden's  and  Yule's  editions,  1877  and  1903. 

Notices  of  MedicEval  Geography. 

By  E.  Bretschneider,  Shanghai  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1876. 

Chinese  Recorder  and  Missionary  Journal,  passim. 

"Presbyterian  Mission  Press,"  Shanghai,  1868-1904. 

Russian  Ecclesiastical  Mission. 

By  John  Dudgeon,  "Chinese  Recorder,"  Shanghai,  1870-1871. 

Russia  and  China. 

By  E.  H.  Parker,  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review,"  January  1905. 

Revival  of  Pure  Shifitau. 

By  E.  M.  Satow,  Japan  Asiatic  Society,  1874. 

Ko}iki. 

By  B.  H.  Chamberlain,  Japan  Asiatic  Society,  1882. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction i 

CHAPTER   I 

CHINA'S    PRIMITIVE   RELIGION 

Untutored  man  and  his  spiritual  fancies.  —  Comparison  with 
the  finer  instincts  of  animals. — First  Chinese  dual  con- 
ception of  theyin  and  yang-  principles. — Influence  of  the 
five  elements.  —  Conciliating  the  Spirits  of  Good  and 
Evil. — Observations  drawn  from  the  order  of  Nature. — 
The  application  of  Music  as  a  test  or  measure. — 
Civilisation  confined  to  the  central  parts  of  what  we 
now  call  China. — Early  rulers  not  necessarily  hereditary  : 
origin  of  the  term  "  Son  of  Heaven." — Filial  piety  and 
ancestral  worship. — Ritual  duties  to  manes. — Definitions 
of  Heaven. — No  dogma  or  mystery. — Folk-lore  and 
superstition  stand  apart. — The  idea  was  to  conform 
human  conduct  to  Nature. — Legendary  period  ends  B.C. 
2200. — Two  later  dynasties  covering  a  thousand  years  : 
no  great  progress  in  religious  thought. — Nine  Virtues, 
and  Sin. — The  three  principal  powers,  Heaven,  Earth, 
Man. — Portable  gods. — Evil  rulers  chastised  by  Heaven. 
— Rulers  arebut  links  in  Nature's  chain.— T^rt?,  or  "correct 
road." — Evil  end  of  the  second  of  the  two  hereditary 
dynasties.—"  Book  of  Changes,"  or  "  Philosophy  of 
Nature."— Real  history  begins  with  the  Chou  dynasty, 
B.C.  II22. — Kings  replace  "Sons  of  Heaven." — Religious 
ideas  remain  essentially  the  same  ;  purely  Chinese. — 
Heaven  confirms  new  dynasties  ;  appeals  to  Heaven. — 
Importance  of  sacrifices. — Exact  chronology  begins  B.C. 
841.— Religious  ties  always  practical  and  political.— No 
terror  of  after  life,  or  conception  of  a  jealous  God.— New 
marriage  laws  and  extensions  of  worship. — Possibility, 
not  probability,  of  Tartar  influence.— Refinement  in 
ceremonies.— Disunion  sets  in.— Taoism  and  Con- 
fucianism both  attempt  to  arrest  politico-religious  decay. 
— Both  apostles  work  on  purely  Chinese  old  texts. — One 
was  radical,  the  other  conservative  ;  neither  was  piously 
religious  in  the  Western  sense 17 

XV 


xvi  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   II 

TAOISM 

PAGE 

The  old  literature  and  spiritual  thought. — The  mass  of 
popular  life  still  primitive. — The  classical  foundations  of 
religious  thought. — Astrologer  and  Historian  the  same, 
because  Man  works  on  Heaven's  lines. — Lao-tsz,  or 
Laocius,  the  Apostle  of  Taoism,  was  such. — Military 
strife  causes  a  longing  for  spirtual  peace. — Old  religious 
thoughts  with  novel  interpretations. — The  masses  are  of 
Heaven  as  much  as  the  classes. — Laocius  leaves  China 
in  disgust. — His  evolution  compared  with  that  of  Spencer 
{vide  Appendix). — The  influence  of  cultured  Taoism 
greater  than  that  of  Confucius ;  a  fortiori  than  of 
Buddhism. — Laocius  was  for  Home  Rule  :  he  dis- 
approved of  learning  as  such. — Fill  the  stomach,  and  the 
soul  will  take  care  of  itself. — Prepared  to  fight  for  pure 
principle  :  a  soldier's  honour  :  no  joy  in  warfare  as  such. 
— Government  a  necessary  evil ;  Laocius  no  anarchist. 
— Objects  to  imperial  blustering  ;  glorifies  self-eftace- 
ment. — The  philosophy  of  Marcus  Aurelius. — Nothing 
said  of  Faith,  Prayer,  Dogma,  or  Piety. — Justice  and 
benevolence  are  a  kind  of  complacent  hypocrisy. — No 
punishments  in  future  life  ;  no  sin  or  crime  except  as 
against  Nature. — Virtues  connote  vices ;  better  be 
without  either. — Woman's  place  in  Laocius'  scheme  ; 
an  indispensable  "functionary." — All  pleasures  are 
subjective,  and  human  life  is  consciousness  ;  the  enduring 
of  the  body  of  minor  importance. — Laocius'  interviews 
with  Confucius. — Laocius  induced  to  write  a  book  before 
disappearing  into  space  {vide  Appendix). — Traditions  of 
a  connection  between  Laocius  and  Buddha. — Laocius 
and  Taoism  both  purely  Chinese,  and  of  undoubted 
authenticity :  his  imitators  all  inferior. — Degenerate 
modern  Taoism  :  medical  admixture :  origin  of  elixir 
quackery. — Taoism  exploited  by  mischievous  ambitions. 
— Destruction  of  literature  in  B.C.  213. — Rivalry  of 
Confucianism,  and  then  of  Buddhism. — Cumbrousness 
of  ancient  books. — Most  modern  Chinese  virtues  may  be 
traced  through  Taoism. — Humility  the  key. — The  Pope 
of  Rome  in  1905  speaks  as  a  Taoist 32 


CONTENTS  xvii 


CHAPTER  III 

CONFUCIANISM 

PAGE 

K'ung-tsz,  or  Confucius,  also  an  archivist,  but  local  :  had  an 
inborn  taste  for  ceremonies. — Sketch  of  his  life  :  his 
visit  to  Laocius. — The  two  philosophers  do  not  admire 
each  other. — Confucius  worked  on  old  texts  :  places 
wherein  he  dififers  from  Laocius. — No  theory  of  rewards 
and  punishments  in  a  future  life  :  he  was  political  and 
practical. — No  Western  philosopher  exactly  resembles 
him. — A  Jesuit's  appreciation  of  his  "  religion." — As  a 
historian. — Dies  a  disappointed  reformer. — At  first  over- 
whelmed by  Taoism. — Other  competing  philosophies. — 
The  "  First  Emperor,"  resolves  to  be  rid  of  learned  men. 
— Taoism  not  under  the  ban  which  was  laid  upon 
Confucian  literature. — Comparison  with  Alexander  the 
Great's  destruction  of  Mazdean  books. — Up  to  this  time 
the  Chinese  had  never  conceived  of  a  religion  in  the 
Western  sense. — No  "  miracles,"  salvation,  or  "  love  of 
God." — History  of  Confucius  after  his  death. — His  works 
and  failure. — Anarchy  of  the  period  B.C.  470-220. — Era 
of  contentious  philosophy. — Unification  of  China. — 
Destruction  of  Literature. — Survival  of  the  Taoist  classic. 
— Summing  up  of  the  subject  of  religion  previous  to  our 
era — Political  use  made  of  Confucius. — Chu  Hi's  revival 
of  Confucianism.  —  Mongol  ignorance.  —  Attitude  of  the 
Manchus 51 


CHAPTER    IV 

BUDDHISM 

Results  of  the  Great  Chinese  Revolution. — Confucius 
begins  to  be  recognised. — Religions  hitherto  viewed  as 
"  crafts." — The  ground  favourable  for  the  introduction  of 
Buddhism. — Chinese  conquests  cause  contact  with  the 
Indo-Scythians  ;  various  foreign  notions  about  religion 
observed. — Rumours  concerning  Hindoo  culture. — An 
Emperor's  dream  interpreted  to  mean  Buddha. — Mission 
to  India,  and  return  of  Hindoo  priests  with  books. — The 
Indo-Scythians  first  told  the  Chinese  of  Buddhism. — A 
Scythian  "  idol  "  or  effigy  confused  with  Buddha. — How 
the  Indo-Scythians  received  Buddhism  from  the  Indus. 


xviii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

— Impossibility  of  Buddhism   reaching   China  by  land 
before  A.D.  i. — The  Emperor's  brother  converted  ;  rivalry 
of  Confucianism,   Taoism,   and   Buddhism  at  Court. — 
Buddhism  discredited  for  a  century. — Taoism  begins  to 
borrow  from  Buddhism  in  order  to  compete  with  it. — 
More  Buddhists  from   India,   Parthia,  and  the  Oxus. — 
More  sfitras  translated. — New   ideas  about  souls   and 
future    existence ;     and    about    alphabets. — Sympathy 
between     Chinese    and   Hindoo    ideas. — Some     slight 
ground  for  ascribing  Buddhism   to  Laocius. — Celibacy 
and  transmigration   of  souls   the  chief  novelty. — Ideas 
about    women    suit  the   Chinese. — Not    antagonist    to 
Taoism. — Definition  of  the  various  forms  of  Buddhism 
that   found  favour   in   and  around    China. — Distinction 
between  the  higher  and  the  popular  forms  of  one  and 
the   same   religion. — Buddhists   by  the  sea   route,   and 
China  divided  into  three  empires. — Magadhaand  South- 
west   China. — Adventurer    dynasties    under    Buddhist 
spell. — Political  influence  in    North    China  of  Buddho- 
chingaand  Kumaradjiva. — Travels  of  the  Chinese  pilgrim 
Fah  Hien. — No  persecution  in    China.— A   statesman's 
comparison    with    Taoism. — Fifth    century    revival    of 
Taoism. — First    persecutions. — Travels    of    Sung    Yiin. 
— An     Emperor     assumes    the    cowl. — Vicissitudes    of 
Buddhism   and  Taoism.— China    once   more   united. — 
The      illustrious      T'ang       dynasty.  —  Vicissitudes     of 
Buddhism    during    the    various     Tartar    and    Chinese 
dynasties  from  A.D.   960  to  now. — Chu   Hi's  revivalism 
and     Confucian     "  Orthodoxy." — Genghis    and    Kublai 
Khans. — Mongol  Buddhomania 72 


CHAPTER    V 

FIRE-WORSHIP  AND   MANICHEISM 

Shocking  impressions  left  on  the  Chinese  mind  by  Tartar 
religious  practices. — Enumeration  of  marriage,  funeral, 
and  other  rites. — Early  Corean  and  Japanese  religious 
notions. — Gradually  increasing  knowledge  in  China  of 
the  religious  customs  of  the  nations  on  the  great  Asiatic 
high  roads. — Introduction  of  a  new  Chinese  word  to 
signify  "  Heaven-spirit  (of  foreigners)."— Indications  of 
early  Terzai,  or  Christians,  in  the  Samarcand  region. — 
Fire-worship  widely   extended. — Polyandry   among  the 


CONTENTS  xix 

PAGE 

later  Indo-Scythians  or  Eptals.  —  Doubtful  Buddhism  in 
Persia       itself. — Development      of     religion      in      the 
Transoxiana   region   subject  to   the  Western   Turks. — 
Wars  between  the  Turks  and  Persia. — Establishment  of 
Mazdean  and  Manichean  temples  in  the  Chinese  capital. 
— Flight  of  a  Persian  prince  to  China. — Chinese   con- 
fusion of  the  two  Persian  religions  with  Nestorianism, 
and  of  all  three  with  Buddhism. — Chinese  definition  of 
Manichean     tenets. — Tesh,     the     One-eyed,     sends     a 
mathematician  from  Tokhara  to  discuss  religion. — The 
Ouigours  admit  Manicheism  into  Tartary  ;    they  obtain 
permission  to  extend  the  religion  into  Central  China. — 
Indebtedness  of  the  Chinese  to  the  Ouigours,  who  were 
protectors  of  Manicheism. — Object  probably  to  provide 
religious  services  for  Persian  traders  coming  by  sea. — 
Manicheans  act  as  diplomatists  in  arranging  diplomatic 
marriages  between  Ouigour  and  Chinese  princely  pairs. 
— Ouigours  burn  the  most  ancient  Buddhist  monastery. 
— At  least  seven  Manichean  monasteries  in  China. —The 
Kirghiz  crush   the   Ouigour   power  ;    vae  victis  for   the 
Manichean  sectaries. — Persecution  of  other  religions  at 
the   same  time. — Disappearance  of  Manicheism    from 
China. — Continues  for  several  centuries  in  Ouigour  land  lo 


CHAPTER   VI 

NESTORIANISM 

After  Struggling  with  Manicheans  in  Persia,  Nestorians 
renew  the  competition  in  China. — In  638  the  Emperor 
of  China  formally  admits  the  Nestorians  as  "  Persian 
bonzes." — Phraseology  borrowed  from  Taoism  and 
Buddhism.— The  stone  still  in  situ  which  defines  the 
Christianity  of  those  days. — The  Messiah  born  from  a 
Virgin  in  Ta-ts'in  :  the  Persian  Magi  come  with 
offerings. — Shaving  of  the  head. — Historical  details 
strictly  corroborated  by  standard  Chinese  history. — The 
first  Nestorian,  Alopen,  arrived  in  635. — Nestorian 
priests  called  "  High  Virtues,"  or  "  Great  Virtues,"  equal 
to  "Very  Reverend." — Many  points  in  the  modern 
Christian  doctrine  left  out. — Close  historical  proofs  of 
the  authenticity  of  the  facts  given  in  the  Nestorian  stone. 
— The  Syrian  inscriptions  on  the  stone  corroborate  or 
are   corroborated   by  Chinese   or  Western   evidence. — 


XX  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Competing  religions  during  the  T'ang  dynasty. — Con- 
fucian hostility  to  Buddhism  at  the  time  when 
Nestorianism  flourished. — The  Empress  of  China  an 
ex-nun. — Favours  corrupt  Buddhism  ;  no  evidence  that 
the  Nestorians  excited  any  direct  hostility. — Religious 
observances  of  the  Northern  Turks. — Confucianist 
remonstrances  against  Buddhism. — A  good-natured 
Chinese  Emperor  now  favours  all  religions. — Manichean 
opportunities,  and  Nestorians  in  favour. — Denunciation 
of  the  Buddha's  Bone  mummery. — Enormous  increase  in 
the  number  of  Buddhist  monasteries  and  nunneries. — 
More  persecutions  by  a  Taoist  Emperor. — Doubtful  if 
Nestorians  were  involved. — "Great  Virtues"  sent  to 
China  from  India. — Malabar  Rites  question. — Pope 
Pius  X.  and  the  Malabar  mission  .        .        .        .  120 


CHAPTER   VII 

ISLAM 

The  religion  which  has  taken  firmest  root  has  been  the  least 
described. — Chinese  Mussulmans  a  serious  and  virile 
class. — The  story  begins  with  the  conquest  of  Persia  by 
the  Arabs. — Embassy  to  China  from  the  Caliph  Othman. 
— Chinese  historical  description  of  the  Arabs  and 
Mohammed.  —Refusal  of  the  Arab  envoy  to  kneel  except 
to  Heaven. — Arab  and  Ouigour  rivalry  at  the  Chinese 
court. — Attack  upon  Canton  by  sea-borne  Arab  and 
Persian  soldiers ;  resulting  possibility  of  there  being  early 
mosques  at  Canton. — Strange  silence  on  the  part  of 
Chinese  historians. — First  Chinese  mention  of  the  only 
word  meaning  "  Mussulmans." — How  a  confusion  arose 
in  the  terminology. — General  sketch  of  Mussulman 
doings  during  the  Mongol  dynasty. — General  sketch  of 
Ouigour  doings. — No  reasonable  ground  to  confuse  the 
two. — Disappearance  of  overt  Islam  from  China  during 
the  Ming  dynasty. — Continues  in  vigour  along  the  land 
and  sea  roads  from  Persia  to  China. — Probable  quiet 
infiltration  of  Islam  into  Yiin  Nan  and  Kan  Suh. — 
Chinese  lesson  in  tolerance  to  mediaeval  Europe. — 
Mussulmans  under  the  Manchu  dynasty. — Priestly  caste 
of  rulers  under  Eleuth  suzerainty  gradually  replaces  the 
old  Mongol  rulers. — Chinese  conquest  of  the  Mussulman 
states. — Reaction  upon   the   Mussulmans   (Dungans)  of 


CONTENTS  xxi 

PAGE 

Chinese  race. — The  Salar  Mussulman  malcontents. — 
The  Panthays  of  Yiin  Nan. — Character  of  Chinese 
Mussulmans  in  Manchuria  and  North  China. — The 
mosques  of  Canton. — Importation  of  Turkestan  Mussul- 
mans into  Peking  150  years  ago.  Peking  mosque  and 
imperial  dedication. — Extraordinary  imperial  blunder 
about  Ouigour  indtii  and  Mussulman  mollas. — Alleged 
old  mosques  at  Nanking  and  Si-an  Fu.— General  sketch 
of  the  position  of  Mussulmans  in  China. — Comparison 
with  other  religions 139 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  JEWS 

May  be  said  to  have  disappeared  with  the  year  1900. — 
Persian  Jews  arrive  in  1163;  positive  evidence. — Stone 
tablet  records  descent  from  Adam,  Abraham,  Moses, 
etc. — Tao  once  more  introduced  to  explain  the  doctrine. 
— Dates  from  the  Chou  dynasty. — Jewish  fasts 
commanded. — The  first  synagogue  at  K'ai-feng  Fu.  — 
Repaired  during  Mongol  rule. — Ming  dynasty  tolerant 
towards  the  Jews ;  they  repair  the  synagogue. — 
Destroyed  by  a  flood. — Native  Jewish  comparison  of 
Judaism  with  other  religions. — Trims  the  faith  to  suit 
Chinese  ideas. — Evidence  of  Persian  origin  ;  other  Jews 
said  to  be  in  China. — Transmission  through  Noah, 
Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses,  and  Aaron,  to  Joshua 
and  Esdras. — Further  compromise  with  Chinese 
doctrines,  and  claim  for  higher  antiquity  in  China. — 
Destruction  by  inundation  at  the  close  of  the  Ming 
dynasty. — Rebuilding  of  the  synagogue  under  the 
Manchu  rule. — No  real  evidence  of  any  Judaism  in 
China  anterior  to  1163. — How  Ricci  300  years  ago  first 
heard  of  these  Jews  ;  and  of  others  at  Hangchow. — 
P^re  Trigault's  special  opportunities  for  examining  the 
Nestorian  and  Jewish  stones. — Protestant  Bishop  of 
Hongkong  sends  to  make  enquiry. — Some  of  the  Jews 
come  to  Shanghai. — Disappearance  of  the  synagogue. 
— Rev.  W.  A.  P.  Martin  himself  visits  the  Jews  in  1866. 
— Unsympathetic  attitude  of  the  Moslems.  Total 
degeneration  of  the  last  surviving  Jews.  Effects  of  the 
T'ai-p'ing  rebellion. — Other  recent  visitors  to  the  site. — 
More  Jews  visit  Shanghai,  and  the  Jewish  merchants 
there  take  the  matter  up. — Scrolls  and  other  valuables 


xxii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

placed  in  museums  under  British  control. —  Arabic 
words  for  "  Christian "  and  "Jew." — Turkish  race  for 
2000  years  a  link  between  religious  China  and  religious 
Europe. — Clue  by  which  we  can  trace  the  Jews  of  the 
Mongol  dynasty. — Mussulman  independence  contrasted 
with  Jewish  suppleness 164 

CHAPTER    IX 

THE  ROMAN   CHURCH 

Gradual  collapse  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  after  the   religious 
persecutions  of  A.d.  845. — Tartars  once  more  dominate 
the   North. — No   sign   of  continued    Nestorianism  ;    or 
scarcely     any. — Genghis     Khan     thinks     of     Taoism  ; 
Christians   heard   of    in   Tartary. — Alarm    in    Europe ; 
action    of    the    Pope.  —  Carpini     finds     Christians     in 
Mongolia. — Proof  of   a   Western  physician   being  with 
Kayuk    Khan. — Rubruquis     finds     Christians. — Mangu 
Khan   arranges   a   religious  tournament  ;    he   mentions 
Christians  ;    comes  round  to  Buddhism. — Christians   in 
Marco     Polo's     time.  —  Bishopric     at     Peking     under 
Montecorvino. — Buddhists  overweening  under  Hayshan 
Khan. — Temples  of  the  Cross. — Travels  of  Friar  Odoric. 
— Jews  and  Christians  mentioned  in  an  edict. — Mussul- 
man    persecutions.  —  The     word    "Frank"    again    in 
evidence. — Eclipse    of    Christianity  for   three   hundred 
years. — Franks  under  the  new  Ming  dynasty  ;  concerted 
silence   of  Chinese   historians. — Arrival   of  Portuguese 
Franks  with  their  guns. — St.  Francis  Xavier  comes  from 
Japan  to  convert  China. — Unfavourable  impressions  left 
by     the     Portuguese     traders. — Establishment     of     an 
episcopal    see  at    Macao. — First    missionaries    in    the 
interior  of  Kwang  Tung. — Arrival  of  Ricci. — Suspicions 
cause    them    to    quit ;     he    establishes    a    mission    at 
Nanking,  and  visits  Peking. — Success. — Judsea  identified 
with    Ta-ts'in. — Ricci    visited  by   the    Chinese   Jews. — 
Nestorian  stone  not  yet  discovered. — Ill-will  of  a  high 
official  causes  the  expulsion  of  the  Peking  and  Nanking 
missionaries    to    Macao.  —  Persecutions.  —  Rise   of  the 
Manchu   power. — Need   of  Frank   guns. —  Missionaries 
sent  for. — Discovery  of  the  Nestorian  stone. — Statistics 
of  converts  in  1627. — Reform  of  the  Calendar  by  Schall  ; 
Mussulman  jealousy  ;    Schall  manufactures  guns. — The 
Manchus  take  Peking,  and  patronise  the  missionaries. — 
Accession  of  the  emperor  K'ang-hi. — Efforts  of  Spanish 


CONTENTS  xxiii 

PAGE 

regulars  in  China  thwarted  by  the  Portuguese. — Mussul- 
man malice  at  Peking. — Schall  sentenced  to  death. — 
K'ang-hi  takes  over  power  from  the  Regents,  and 
patronises  Verbiest.  —  Guns  and  Christianity  once 
more. — Louis  XIV.  sends  more  missionaries. — Gerbillon 
and  the  Russians. — Louis  and  K'ang-hi  subscribe  to 
build  a  new  cathedral.  —  Unfortunate  question  of 
ancestral  rites  ;  the  Jesuit  view.  —  The  Spanish 
(Dominican  and  Franciscan)  view. — Changeable  action 
of  the  Holy  See  under  conflicting  counsels. — Decision 
of  the  Manchu  emperor  in  favour  of  the  Jesuits. — 
Bishop  Tournon  sent  to  negotiate  with  him. — The  Bull 
Ex  quosingula?-ihx'mgs  disputes  to  a  crisis. — Persecutions 
under  two  succeeding  emperors. — Abolition  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  ;  Peking  placed  under  the  Lazarists. — 
The  French  Revolution  and  after. — Slight  improvement 
after  the  first  English  war. — Second  English  war,  in 
which  France  joins  ;  the  T'ai-p'ing  rebellion. — The  pia 
fraus  of  Abbe  Delamarre. — The  Tientsin  Massacre. — 
Shifting  of  the  Peking  Cathedral,  and  concession  of 
official  rank  to  all  missionaries. — Statistics  of  all  the 
Roman  Church  missions  in  the  Chinese  empire       .         .  178 


CHAPTER   X 

PROTESTANTISM 

Morrison  the  first  Protestant  missionary  in  China. — Sir 
George  Staunton  at  Canton. — Morrison  translates  the 
Bible. — His  Dictionary. — Lockhart's  medical  mission. — 
Gutzlaff  and  Medhurst. — Dr  Legge  and  his  works. — 
Alexander  Wylie. — Scarcity  of  interpreters. — New  era 
created  by  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin. — The  T'ai-p'ing 
Rebellion. — China  Inland  Mission. — Missionary  activity 
discouraged  by  British  Ministers. — "  Missionary  disturb- 
ances," and  "gunboat  policy." — Statistics  of  Protestant 
missionaries  in  i869.^A  word  for  the  "China  Inland." — 
Mortality  amongst  Protestant  ladies. — Tientsin  massacre 
and  Prince  Kung's  missionary  circular. — Indignation  of 
the  missionaries. — Statistics  for  1877,  the  year  of  famine  ; 
valuable  missionary  assistance. — Civilising  influences  of 
missionaries  not  dependent  on  their  religion. — China 
grows  aggressive  with  success  and  prosperity. — The 
Japanese  war. — Statistics  for  1898  ;  exceptional  position 
of  the  China  Inland  Mission, — Now  as  many  missionaries 


xxiv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

as  traders  in  China. — Missionary  influence  in  America 
and  Great  Britain. — Most  recent  missionary  hopes  of 
success  as  expressed  by  a  bishop. — Regrettable  squabbles 
between  Protestants  and  Catholics. — Japan's  excellent 
examples .  209 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE    ORTHODOX    CHURCH 

The  "  Ross  "  are  converted  from  nature  worship,  and  in  988 
embrace  the  Greek  faith. — Called  "Gross"  by  the 
Tartars  and  Chinese.  —  The  Mongols  attack  the 
Kipchaks  and  Russians  in  1222. — Russia  a  Chinese 
province. — Batu  on  religious  grounds  executes  Michael 
Chernigoff  before  Carpini's  eyes. — Freedom  to  Russian 
religion  under  Tartar  rule. — Greek  Christians  dis- 
tinguished by  the  Chinese  from  Nestorians. — Clergy 
writes  from  China  run  into  Kipchak  dominions. — 
Extinction  of  Russia's  suzerain  Tartar  power  in  1502. — 
A  Chinese  blank  between  1368  and  1640. — Settlement  of 
captive  Russians  in  Peking  in  1685. — In  171 5  the  Manchu 
envoy  to  Russia  brings  a  reinforcement  of  priests  to 
China. — Russian  and  Jesuit  counter  moves  at  Peking. — 
Russian  captives  in  a  purely  historical  position. — 
Establishment  in  1720  of  an  official  Russian  Church  or 
Convent  at  Peking. — Russian  rites  confused  with  Tibetan. 
— Russian  and  Chinese  schools  established,  and  con- 
tinued up  to  Treaty  times  in  1862. — Death  of  Hilarion 
in  1717  ;  arrival  of  the  Archimandrite  Antonius  in  1729. 
— Successors  during  the  eighteenth  century.  —  New 
cemetery  of  1740  ;  placed  at  British  disposal  in  i860. — 
List  of  learned  Archimandrites  during  the  nineteenth 
century. — No  Russian  "  missionary  disturbances "  at 
Peking. — Reasons  for  the  long  period  of  peace  and 
order. — Immaculate  behaviour  of  Russian  priests.  — 
Strict  subordination  of  Church  to  State. — Dread  of 
Chinese  power  and  immigration. — The  ecclesiastical 
mission  subsequent  to  1858. — The  effects  of  the 
"Boxer"  troubles  of  1900;  destruction  of  the  Library. 
Retaliation  of  the  Russians  with  the  Mukden  Library.  • 
Success  of  the  Orthodox  Church  in  Japan.— General 
considerations  about  Japan's  rights  in  religious  matters.         230 


CONTENTS  XXV 

CHAPTER  XII 
SHINTOISM 

PAGE 

Shin-to  or  "spiritual  way"  is  an  expression  derived  from  the 
Chinese  "  Book  of  Changes." — The  Japanese  derived  the 
expression  of  their  notions,  if  not  the  religious  notions 
themselves,  from  ready-made  Chinese  thought. — Even 
Chinese  history  allows  to  the  ancient  Japanese  some 
crude  spiritual  ideas  of  political  bearing. — First  enquiries 
by  competent  Europeans  into  the  nature  and  objects  of 
revived  Shint5. — Evidently  a  mere  political  engine. — No 
moral  code  ;  a  mere  engine  of  mental  slavery. — The 
ancient  Japanese  history  on  which  it  is  chiefly  based  is 
itself  worthless.— Mr  Satow's  "  Revival  of  Pure  Shin-tau." 
— The  word  Shin-to  only  introduced  in  the  sixth  century 
as  the  name  of  a  supposed  cult. — Gradually  extinguished 
by  Buddhism. — Revival  of  religion  after  three  or  four 
centuries  of  civil  war. — The  Japanese  revivalist, 
Motowori. — He  denies  his  own  alleged  inspiration  by 
Lao-tsz. — Other  Japanese  attack  both  him  and  the 
genuineness  of  Japanese  ancient  history. — Japan  is  the 
hub  of  the  universe,  and  Shinto  is  its  prophet.  —As  a 
political  engine,  important ;  as  a  philosophy,  a  mere 
copy. — Weak  origin  of  Japanese  history.  —  "Book  of 
Changes"  the  true  origin. — Parallel  lines  of  religious 
movement  in  China  and  Japan. — Etymological  and 
historical  evidence. — Japanese  statesmen  have  only  done 
what  Europeans  have  done. — Conflicting  appreciations 
of  Russian,  German,  and  other  European  Christians 
cited  to  explain  the  Japanese  attitude. — "  Ian  Maclaren  " 
on  revivals. — Japanese  bushi-do. — Lessons  to  be  learnt 
from  Japan 247 

Index 303 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FATHER    HWANG,    SECULAR    PRIEST    (AFFILIATED    TO 

THE    JESUITS)    AT     NANKING,    A     DISTINGUISHED 
AND    PROFOUND   THEOLOGICAL    SCHOLAR 


Frontispiece 


THE  "temple  TO  MANIFESTED  LOYALTY,''  AT  PAGODA 
ANCHORAGE  (FOOCHOW),  ERECTED  IN  HONOUR 
OF  THE  SOULS  OF  THE  CHINESE  MARINES, 
KILLED  DURING  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  THE 
FLEET   AND   ARSENAL    BY   THE    FRENCH    IN    1884   •      To  face  p.  24 


"IDOLS,"     PRESUMABLY     SIVAIC,      FROM      A      CHINESE 
BUDDHIST  TEMPLE   IN   BHAMO,   BURMA 

THE    ju-h    OR     "AS     YOU     LIKE     IT,"    A     SYMBOL     OF 
RULE,   ADOPTED    FROM   BUDDHISM 

THE     DAIBUTSU    {i.e.    TA-FUH    OR    "GREAT    BUDDHA 
OF   KAMAKURA)   NEAR   TOKYO 

THE   CREMATION    OF    A   BUDDHIST   PRIEST   IN   BURMA 

THE    NESTORIAN    STONE,    WITH    SYRIAC    INSCRIPTION 
AT  FOOT  (J)y  peri}iission  of  Rev.  A.  Coloinbel,  S.J.) 

THE  ONLY  FULL  JESUIT  PRIEST  AMONG  THE  CHINESE, 
AND  HIS  COMPATRIOT  STUDENTS  AT  SICCAWEI 

STtrPA  AT   PEKING,  NEAR  THE  OLD   ROMAN   CATHOLIC 
CATHEDRAL   IN   THE   PALACE   GROUNDS 

THE    NEW    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CATHEDRAL    AT    Si;OUL 
(COREA),    AND   THE   RUSSIAN   LEGATION 

A    BEAUTIFUL  JAPANESE   TEMPLE  .... 

STONE      FIGURES      LINING     A     TEMPLE      AVENUE      AT 
NIKKO,   JAPAN 


80 

72 

96 
1 10 

128 

178 

198 

230 
256 

270 


CHINA  AND  RELIGION 


INTRODUCTION 

This  is  an  attempt  to  present  to  the  general 
reader,  in  comparatively  simple  sketch  form,  the 
whole  history  of  the  religious  question  as  it  has 
affected  the  Chinese  mind.  When  I  say  that  I 
have  throughout  avoided  (so  far  as  it  is  possible) 
the  use  of  all  personal  or  proper  names,  and  the 
mention  of  all  authorities,  it  will  be  understood 
that  the  reason  why  I  do  so  is  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  be  even  moderately  simple  and  read- 
able, if  the  pages  were  too  thickly  interspersed 
with  unfamiliar,  and  therefore  to  most  persons 
uncouth  foreiofn  words.  There  is  so  small  a 
demand  for  things  Chinese  of  an  abstract  nature 
in  Great  Britain,  that  I  have  long  since  found 
my  stock-in-trade  a  drug  upon  the  market,  and 
I  have  had  to  get  many  of  the  papers  bound  up 
in  manuscript  for  the  convenience  of  my  own 
reference.  But  if  curious  enquirers  would  rather 
see  authorities  cited  for  occasional  passages  lack- 
ing the  impress  of  authenticity,  they  have  only 
to    refer    to    the    published    articles    on    Taoism, 


2  INTRODUCTION  [introd. 

Confucianism,  Buddhism,  Roman  Catholicism,  etc. 
— all  named  and  described  directly  after  the 
preface — to  find  cited  as  many  original  authorities 
as  they  may  desire,  and  to  satisfy  themselves 
that  I  am  not  unduly  shirking  the  exhibition  of 
evidence. 

China  enjoys  a  unique  position  in  the  history 
of  religious  thought,  in  that  she  possesses  an 
unbroken  religious  record  of  at  least  3000  years, 
without  counting  the  semi-historical  and  legendary 
periods  of  tradition,  anterior  to  the  time  when 
fleetino-  thought  was  first  committed  to  intelligible 
literature.  Moreover,  samples  of  all  the  Western 
religions  have  been  presented  to  her  in  turn,  and 
she  has  thus  had  unrivalled  opportunities  of  making 
discriminating  selections.  It  is  surely  very  much 
to  China's  credit  that  at  no  period  of  her  history 
have  the  ruling  powers  "  in  being "  ever  for  one 
instant  refused  hospitality  and  consideration  to  any 
religion  recommended  to  them  as  such.  If  there 
has  been  hostility,  it  has  always  sprung  up  from 
political  and  economical  causes  ;  thus  pure  uncom- 
promising Taoism,  which  from  its  inception  to  this 
day  has  steadily  been  a  strong  intellectual  and 
moral  force  in  educated  China,  soon  proved  too 
independent  and  democratic  for  the  immediate 
purposes  of  imperial  ambition  and  family  interest : 
hence  Confucianism,  with  its  obsequious  recogni- 
tion of  "divine  right"  in  rulers,  gradually  under- 
mined by  ridicule,  and  thus  favoured  the  religious 
corruption  and   the   superstitious   popularisation  of 


iNTROD.]  INTRODUCTION  3 

the  older  and  grander  scheme  of  thought.  But 
it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  pure  Taoism  and 
Confucianism  were  both  based  on,  and  thus  were 
merely  different  interpretations  of  exactly  the  same 
original  texts.  Both  failed  to  arrest  the  de- 
generation and  decay  of  their  time.  Buddhism, 
in  consequence,  was  heartily  welcomed,  with  its 
entirely  new  conceptions  of  soul  transmigration, 
a  Messiah,  spiritual  rewards  and  punishments,  sin, 
humility,  and  self-denial.  But  political  intrigue 
and  priestly  corruption  quickly  crept  in,  in  such 
wise  that  conservative  Confucianism  found  ready 
opportunities  to  check  the  progress  of  this  fresh 
foreign  layer  of  thought — at  least  in  the  higher 
grades  of  society.  As  China  extended  her 
influence  in  Western  Asia,  and  later  on  yielded, 
step  by  step,  to  Tartar  incursions,  or  was  more 
and  more  subjected  to  direct  Tartar  rule,  the 
Tartar  religions — in  many  respects  resembling  the 
Chinese  semi-historical  beliefs — began  to  compete 
with  Buddhism  for  a  place  in  the  State  machinery  ; 
and  thus  the  Persian  religions  also  found  a  footing, 
the  horse  -  riding  races  of  Turkish  blood  always 
acting  as  conduits  for  the  exchange  between 
Western  and  Eastern  thought.  Filtering  into 
China  through  the  country  which  first  gave 
Buddhism  to  the  Far  East,  and  borrowing 
Buddhist  terms  in  order  to  give  adequate  expres- 
sion to  their  unfamiliar  tenets,  these  religions  were 
not  unnaturally  viewed  by  the  Chinese  as  mere 
"outer  roads,"  or  schismatical  forms  of  Buddhism. 


4  INTRODUCTION  [introd 

Brahmanism  was  also  included  in  this  "heretical" 
group.  And  as  the  ever  -  changing  border  -  land 
between  known  Persia  and  the  Roman  Empire  of 
hearsay  was  very  vague  ;  as  the  first  Christians 
who  came  to  China  were  all  either  Syrians  or 
Persians  ;  and  as  the  Chinese  had  never  had  the 
least  conception  of  the  white  and  pink  light-haired 
race  stocks  of  Northern  and  Western  Europe,  it 
was  quite  a  pardonable  mistake  on  their  part  to 
consider  the  earliest  Nestorians,  who  in  any  case 
had  to  pass  through  Persia,  to  be  Persians  pure 
and  simple.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  we 
"Christian  people"  or  "Franks"  of  Western  Europe 
are  just  as  far  topographically  and  ethnologically 
removed  from  Syria,  and  have  therefore  as  little 
racial  claim  to  be  styled  Christians  by  soil  birth- 
right, as  then  had,  and  now  have,  the  nearest 
Chinese  dwelling  on  the  remote  eastern  flanks 
of  the  Persian  political  world.  It  is  therefore 
difficult  to  deny  to  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
Emperors  of  to  -  day,  if  they  officially  adopt 
Christianity,  the  right  claimed  by  the  rulers  of 
Russia  and  Great  Britain  to  appoint  Christian 
bishops,  and  to  constitute  themselves  heads  of  their 
own  Christian  Church.  The  Chinese  soon  dis- 
covered their  error  about  Persia,  when  in  the 
seventh  century  the  Turks  brought  first  news 
of  the  Franks,  and  having  found  out  that  the 
Syrian  Nestorians  and  the  Persian  Manicheans 
were  sent  from  different  countries,  they  extended 
equal  hospitality  to   both ;    but  both  continued  to 


iNTROD.]  INTRODUCTION  5 

bear  within  them  the  hereditary  taint  of  Buddhism  ; 
and  so  when  Buddhism  again  fell  into  disfavour 
through  priestly  immorality,  cupidity,  and  corruption, 
the  Syrian  and  Persian  religions  fell  too,  and  for 
want  of  new  importations  of  Western  blood  scarcely 
ever  raised  their  heads  in  China  again,  Mazdeism 
never  had  much  chance  in  China,  having  dis- 
appeared even  from  Persia  with  the  Mussulman 
conquests  ;  90,000  Parsees,  mostly  in  Bombay,  are 
the  sole  remnants  of  it  now  existing. 

For  some  reason  which  has  not  yet  been 
made  quite  apparent,  the  Mussulmans,  who  were 
so  militant  and  aggressive  elsewhere,  and  who  (as 
Abbasside  Arabs)  repeatedly  fought,  both  for  and 
against  China,  during  the  Tibetan  wars  of  757-801 
in  Kan  Suh  and  Yiin  Nan,  seem  never  to  have 
pressed  in  the  least  degree  their  claims  to  religious 
recognition,  not  to  say  rights  of  proselytism  in 
China ;  and  yet  their  belief  percolated  imper- 
ceptibly throughout  the  Chinese  Empire,  and 
was  largely  accepted  without  political  friction 
by  the  trading  classes :  what  is  wanted,  how- 
ever, is  the  date  when  each  region  was  first 
inoculated.  Particularly  remarkable  is  the  fact 
that  at  no  period  whatever  in  Chinese  history, 
up  to  the  time  of  the  Manchu  conquest  of 
Kashgaria  150  years  ago,  is  there  the  slightest 
mention  of  Mussulman  religious  trouble.  Even  in 
Kublai  Khan's  time,  when  Mussulman  gunners 
managed  the  artillery,  and  Mussulman  usurers 
farmed    the    taxation,    we    hear  absolutely  nothing 


6  INTRODUCTION  [introd. 

of     Mussulman     religious     disputes.       For     three 
centuries  after  that  the    word  Mussulman  scarcely 
occurs     in     history,     except     in     connection     with 
Tamurlane,  Arabia,   Bishpalik,   Hami,  and  Turfan  ; 
it   is   indeed    once    stated    that   Kan   Suh  province 
contained   many   Mussulmans   imported  in   Mongol 
times.      Notwithstanding  the  numerous  Mussulman 
rebellions   which    have    grown    out    of  the  occupa- 
tion    of     Kashgaria     in     1760,     and     out    of    the 
infiltration    of    aggressive     Islam    into    Yiin    Nan, 
there  is  no  religious  animosity  felt  in  China  against 
Mussulmans  ;    a  Mussulman  may  be    a  viceroy  or 
a  ofeneralissimo,   and    over   and    over  asrain  within 
the  past  two  generations    the   emperors  have  said 
in    their   official    decrees  :     "  Make    no    distinction 
between   lay  -  Chinese    and    Chinese    Mussulmans. 
I  don't  care  what  their  belief  is  ;    I  only  ask  '  are 
they   good   subjects  ? '      I   would  as    soon    have   a 
good  Mussulman  as  a  bad  Chinese — much  sooner 
indeed."      The    history    of    the    Jews,    who    have 
always  been  regarded  as  a  strange,   "sinew-pluck- 
ing,"    schismatic     group      of     Mussulmans,     adds 
nothing    to    the     principle     advanced  —  that     the 
Chinese  Government  has  always  been  one  of  the 
broadest-minded    and    the    most    liberally    inclined 
towards  pure  religion  ;  that  it  has  never  persecuted 
to  the  merciless  and  cruel  extent  once  so  common 
all   over    Europe ;    and    that   when    it   has    seemed 
to    persecute    at   all,    it    has    really    only   defended 
what    it   honesdy  believed    to    be   its  own  political 
rights :    it   has    never    encouraged    religious    spite, 


iNTROD.]  INTRODUCTION  7 

mental  tyranny,  or  the  stifling  of  any  free  opinion 
that  keeps  clear  of  State  policy,  scandal,  or  libel. 
European  Christianity  obtained  three  centuries 
ago  a  reception  as  generous  as  the  earlier  foreign 
religions    had    met    with ;    there    was    no    trace   of 
sanctioned     persecution     until     personal     interests, 
official  appointments,   and  political  questions  came 
to   the  fore.     When   Dominicans  and   Franciscans 
abused    Jesuits,    ambitious    princes    intrigued    with 
priests,  and  Popes  set  about  tilting  with  a  literary 
emperor     on     purely    classical     and     logomachical 
grounds,  the  Chinese  Government  may  be  excused 
for  having  bundled  the  whole  troublesome  priestly 
body  out  of   China  two  centuries  after  their  intro- 
duction ;   or,   if  not   excused,    its    conduct    may    be 
palliated  ;    if     not,     why    did    the     Pope     himself 
abolish    the    Society   of   Jesus?      And   as    regards 
the   Protestants    of  our   day,   if  they   can  only  go 
about    their   charitable    business   without    sneering 
at  the    Catholics  ;    refrain    from    harshly  criticising 
subjects  dear  to  Chinese  prejudice  ;  and  not  allow 
themselves    to    be    made    tools    of    by   mercenary 
natives,    there    is    no    apparent    reason    why    they 
should  not  for  ever  enjoy  the  toleration  which  the 
Chinese  have  always  been   disposed    to  extend  to 
religion  qua  religion.     The  same  remarks  of  course 
apply  to    the    Roman   Catholics  of   the   nineteenth 
century    up    to    the    present    time,    and    to    their 
behaviour    towards     Protestants.      There    are    no 
countries  where  the  Romanists  enjoy  fuller  liberties 
than  in  Protestant  England  and  America ;  and  yet 


8  INTRODUCTION  [introd. 

the  title  "  Lord  Bishop,"  which  they  are  beginning 
to  use  in  England,  seems  an  imprudent  and  worldly 
arrogatlon ;  for  it  would  be  absurd  in  America, 
and  in  any  case  only  refers  to  the  British  House 
of  Lords,  in  which  Catholic  bishops  have  no  seat. 
We  have  only  to  look  around  us  in  our  own 
much  vaunted  civilised  home  of  Europe  (in  which 
for  this  purpose  I  include  its  intellectual  annex 
America)  to  see  how  much,  despite  misunder- 
standings, we  owe  to  the  careless  if  not  generous 
toleration  of  the  Chinese,  upon  whom  it  must  be 
remembered,  we  have  imposed  by  force  of  arms 
our  so-called  religious  "rights,"  First  we  have 
Russia,  with  her  Armenians,  Jews,  Stundists, 
Old  Believers,  Lutherans,  Polish  Catholics,  etc., 
etc.  This  is  not  the  place  to  criticise  anything 
that  the  Czar  may  be  advised  to  do  for  the 
supposed  good  of  his  State.  But,  if  we  put  it 
another  way,  suppose  the  2500  missionaries  of 
innumerable  Protestant  sects  now  in  China  applied 
for  passports  to  go  about  the  same  work  in  Russia, 
what  would  be  their  reception  ?  How  would 
their  rights  compare  with  those  they  enjoy  in 
China  ?  Next  we  have  Russia's  ally  and  our 
own  excellent  friend,  "  most  Christian "  France. 
What  is  the  position  at  home  of  the  Jesuits, 
Missions  Etrangeres,  Lazarists,  and  other 
powerful  agglomerations  at  this  moment, 
enjoying  as  they  do,  "  button "  rank  on  the 
footing  of  regularly  commissioned  mandarins  in 
China?     The  anointed  ruler  of   Italy    is    regarded 


ixTROD.]  INTRODUCTION  9 

as   a   pariah    by    the  Vicar  of  Christ,  who  never- 
theless     enjoys      his      efficient     protection.       His 
ApostoHc     Majesty    of    Austro- Hungary    is    liable 
to   excommunication    if  he    visits   his  royal    friend 
in    Rome ;    and    his    Most     Faithful    Majesty   of 
Portugal   is  liable  to  the  same  penalty  if  he  visits 
his    kingly    relative    there.       His     Most    Catholic 
Majesty   of    Spain      is    presumably    in    the    same 
predicament.     The    recent    action    of    the    Bishop 
of     Barcelona,    touching     Protestants,    shows    the 
measure  of  toleration  approved    in  Spain.     Prince 
Bismarck  (a  term  then  synonymous  with  Germany) 
was  quite  ready  to  apply  force  to  constrain   Rome 
until    he    found  that  he  was  not  strong  enough  to 
do   so    effectually.       The    Sultan    of   Turkey   and 
his  kindness  to  Germany  in  the  Holy  Land  ;  the 
moves   of    Germany   at    the    last    Papal    election ; 
the    protection     of     "  Mussulman     principles "     in 
Morocco  ;  the  seizure  of  Kiao  Chou  ;  the  meeting 
of  the    bishops    and    the    Emperor   at    Metz — all 
these   and   other    episodes    of    a    kind    furnish    an 
object  lesson,    and    suggest  reasons  why  China    is 
so   anxious    not  to  be  again  turned   on  the  flanks 
by  some  mysterious  political  compulsion  advancing 
under  ostensibly  religious  banners.      It  is  significant 
that   after    3000   years  of   religious    competition  in 
the    Far  East  the  old  Chinese  Shinto  should  find 
renewed   favour   in    Japan,    and    should  have  pro- 
duced   moral    qualities    nobler    than    any    Christian 
power  can  show  at  this  moment. 

Another  point  that  commands  attention  in  the 


lo  INTRODUCTION  [introd. 

survey  of  China's  religious  experiences  is  the 
important  but  unobtrusive  historical  position 
occupied  by  pure  Taoism.  A  work  of  the  fourth 
century  entitled,  "How  Lao-tsz  converted  the 
Hu  [Tartars  and  Hindoos]  and  became  Buddha  " 
excited  at  the  outset  much  indignation,  and  more 
especially  amongst  the  seventh  century  Buddhists  ; 
for  there  was  then  and  still  is  a  persistent  secular 
tradition  in  China,  Khoten,  and  elsewhere  that 
when  Lao-tsz  disappeared  towards  the  West 
about  B.C.  500,  either  he  or  his  Taoist  friend, 
the  keeper  of  the  frontier  pass,  had  really  later  on 
reappeared  in  the  shape  of  Buddha :  it  is  probable, 
but  so  far  as  I  am  aware  not  certain,  that  this 
story  was  started  by  the  degenerate  and  corrupt 
Taoists,  as  described  in  the  body  of  this  work, 
a  century  or  two  after  the  introduction  of 
Buddhism  :  they  did  so  in  order  to  keep  their  hold 
on  the  people  ;  for  they  had  already  borrowed  much 
from  the  literature  and  liturgy  of  Buddhism,  and 
naturally  after  a  period  of  neglect  found  it  bonne 
guerre  to  "  dish  "  their  rivals  at  a  time  when  half  a 
dozen  religions  were  competing  for  imperial  favour, 
and  when  a  new  dynasty  bearing  the  same  family 
name  as  Lao-tsz  recognised  him  as  an  ancestor. 
But  political  works  and  priestly  frauds  of  this 
kind,  which  were  given  their  final  death-blow  at 
the  religious  "  tourneys,"  held  by  Mangu  and 
Kublai  Khans  in  the  thirteenth  century,  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  pure  Taoism  of  Lao-tsz, 
which   continues   to    leaven  the  best   Chinese  and 


iNTROD.]  INTRODUCTION  ii 

Japanese  intellect  much  in  the  same  way  that 
Plato's  "  pagan  "  philosophy  lightens  up  and 
leavens  educated  Christian  thought.  The  pure 
Taoism  of  the  Tao-teh  King  is  as  much  quoted 
in  every  age  of  Chinese  history,  officialdom,  and 
poetry  as  Shakespeare  is  quoted  in  the  literature  and 
speech  of  modern  England  ;  and  though,  officially, 
Confucianism  is  the  orthodox  official  belief,  it 
is  Taoism,  or,  rather,  the  ancient  natural  religion 
as  interpreted  and  expressed  by  Lao-tsz,  which 
really  forms  the  character  of  the  gentleman 
philosopher  in  China.  The  impassiveness, 
stoicism,  democratic  feeling,  contempt  for  profuse 
luxury  and  vulgar  show,  patience,  humility,  calm- 
ness, deliberation,  aversion  from  imperial  puffery, 
boastfulness,  and  military  glory  which  characterise 
the  best  Chinese  minds  are  ShintS-Taoist  rather 
than  Confucian  in  spirit ;  and  the  fact  that  men 
in  responsible  positions  only  too  frequently  give 
way  in  fact  to  cupidity,  sensuality,  and  cowardice 
in  no  way  prevents  the  same  men  in  theory  from 
honestly  aspiring  to  admiring  and  teaching  their 
true  ideals :  just  as  with  us,  a  man  may  be  or 
try  to  be  a  convinced  Christian  gentleman,  although 
occasionally  he  may  take  a  drop  too  much,  or 
yield  to  business  frauds  and  feminine  seductions  ; 
or,  as  a  distinguished  Catholic  once  said  to  me 
of  Alexander  Borgia,  "he  may  have  been  a 
good  Pope  in  many  ways,  though  perhaps  he 
was  a  vile  man."  The  Buddhists  did  not  need 
to    borrow    literary    thought    from    Lao-tsz ;    partly 


12  INTRODUCTION  [introd. 

because  they  had  their  own  discursive  literature 
more  than  complete,  and  wished  for  nothing 
better  than  to  translate  it ;  partly  because  the 
sublime  abstractions  of  Lao-tsz  were  altosfether 
too  high  for  adequate  translation  into  a  foreign 
tongue,  and  yet  too  simple  to  satisfy  the  popular 
craving  for  "business" — in  the  Salvation  Army 
sense.  Merely  to  wash  in  the  waters  of  tao  was 
not  enough  for  the  Chinese  Gehazis  in  search  of 
a  political  cure. 

The  Nestorians  and  Jews  both  borrowed  largely 
from    Taoism,    as    we    can    see    from    the    extant 
Si-an  Fu  and  K'ai-feng  Fu  inscriptions,  recording 
particulars  of  the  entry  of  their  respective  beliefs 
into  China.     Possibly  the  authors  tried  to  persuade 
themselves    that    they   were    only    borrowing    the 
mere  expression  of  ideas  ;  but  it  cannot  be  denied 
that   they   have    also    bodily   borrowed    some    new 
ideas   too.     The    Chinese    Jews  and   some    of  the 
modern  Roman  Catholic  missions  in  China  have  not 
been  above  citing  and  availing  themselves  of  the 
fact  that  in  a.d.   62  the  Chinese  Emperor  "heard 
of  a  Sage    in    the   West"    (Buddha),  in   order   to 
cultivate  in  the  interests  of  their  own  religion  the 
inference    that    this    Sage   was    in    the    one    case 
Jehovah   and    in   the   other    Christ.     The    modern 
Chinese    seem  to  have  thought   that   Christ   must 
have   obtained  many  of  his  reforming  ideas   from 
Buddhist     monks    who     spread     themselves    over 
Persian    region,  and    therefore  probably  also   over 
Syria,    long   before   they   came   to   China.     There 


iNTROD.]  INTRODUCTION  13 

seems  no  sufficient  reason  to  regard  this  sugges- 
tion with  Christian  indignation,  as  most  of  Christ's 
lessons  were  based  on  the  text  of  daily  events  in 
the  course  of  preaching  and  travel ;  and  why 
should  not  a  Buddhist  monk,  one  of  the  group 
that  visited  China  from  Parthia's  east  frontier, 
and  who  on  Christ's  own  hypothesis  was  as  much 
entitled  to  salvation  as  any  other  Gentile,  have  gone 
west  to  Judaea  and  there  suggested  ideas  ;  as  much 
as  did  the  Magi  or  Mazdean  priests  who,  in  search 
for  the  Soshyant  or  Saviour  of  their  belief,  made 
their  way,  as  St  Matthew  tells  us,  westwards  in 
those  degenerate  Parthian  days  in  search  of  the 
mysterious  star  ;  and  who  doubtless  contributed  to 
reformed  Judaism  some  of  those  moral  principles 
of  their  own  religion  which  so  closely  resemble 
those  of  the  Christian  faith  ?  The  original  perfec- 
tion of  man  ;  temptation  by  the  Evil  Spirit  of  the 
First  Couple  to  eat  of  forbidden  food ;  sin,  retribu- 
tion, good  resolutions,  repentance,  confession,  good 
works,  sacrifice,  rewards  and  punishments ; — all 
these  are  according  to  the  best  authorities  present 
in  the  noble  Mazdean  teaching,  which,  in  its  origin, 
was,  like  the  ancient  Chinese  religion,  founded  on 
Nature  Worship.  In  the  absence  of  clear  definite 
evidence,  the  most  reasonable  conclusion  is  that 
the  fatalistic  Taoist,  pessimistic  Buddhist,  exclusive 
Jewish,  optimistic  Mazdean,  and  democratic  Chris- 
tian religions  all  worked  and  reacted  upon  each 
other  in  turn  by  imperceptible  infiltration  along 
the  regular  caravan  routes  ;  and  were  all,  equally, 


14  INTRODUCTION  [introd. 

earnest  human  attempts  to  grapple  with  and 
correct  the  misery  and  political  failures  of  the 
times.  If  some  of  these  human  teachers  considered 
themselves  inspired  and  superhuman,  why  not,  if 
done  in  good  faith  ?  why  not  now  accept  or  reject 
this  view  in  neighbourliness  and  good  faith  without 
mutual  recrimination  ? 

As  to  ancient  cosmical  speculations,  whether 
Chinese  or  other,  it  is  futile  to  discuss  them,  as, 
in  spite  of  the  discoveries  of  gravity,  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  the  purely  animal  character  of  man's 
corporeal  body,  electricity  in  its  various  forms, 
spectrum  analysis.  X-rays,  and  so  on,  we  know 
just  as  little  of  "final  causes"  as  Lao-tsz  did.  It 
is  probable,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  orderly  and 
perfectly  consequent  and  harmonious  nature  of 
discoveries  as  we  successively  make  them,  that  the 
solution  of  the  whole  question  of  human  life  will 
some  day  astonish  us  by  its  obviousness  and 
simplicity.  An  ant  goes  about  its  destiny  in  one 
yard  of  space  like  we  do  over  a  square  mile.  From 
an  ant's  point  of  view  the  inexplicable  vastness  of  a 
petty  furlong  of  land  is  as  hopeless  as  to  us  is  the 
universe.  Perhaps  we  exaggerate  the  importance 
of  our  power  to  think,  speak,  and  remember  ;  for 
it  avails  us  to  escape  death  no  more  than  the 
unknown  powers  of  the  ant  or  bee.  If  a  fraction 
of  a  grain  of  radium  or  helium  can  repel  and 
contract  a  pendulum  under  our  own  eyes  for 
50,000  years,  tons  of  the  same  or  still  more 
formidable  material  might   equally  keep  in  eternal 


iNTROD.]  INTRODUCTION  15 

movement  any  number  of  solar  systems.  In  the 
first  pages  of  his  "  Descent  of  Man,"  Darwin  causti- 
cally alludes  to  the  division  (by  Man)  into  Plants, 
Animals,  and  Man.  "Spiritually"  it  seems  equally 
presumptuous  of  Man  to  place  his  instincts  so 
much  above  those  of  his  fellow-animals  as  to  hold 
in  their  embrace  the  creation  and  direction  of  all 
things.  We  know  at  least  the  use — often  little 
dignified — of  most  of  our  organs,  and  why  the 
body  is  shaped  for  and  accommodated  to  such  and 
such  animal  uses  ;  surely  it  is  absurd  to  insist  upon 
a  Supreme  Ruler  bearing  this  unworthy  image  ? 
There  is  no  reason  why  the  imagination  should 
not  indulge  in  such  makeshifts,  or  even  why  for 
the  orderly  conduct  of  human  affairs  such  beliefs 
should  not  be  cultivated,  so  long  as  no  attempt  is 
made  to  shackle  men's  minds.  No  one  who,  like 
President  Kruger  did,  honestly  believes  the  earth 
to  be  flat,  incurs  the  hostility  of  the  millions  who 
are  satisfied  that  it  is  nearly  round.  Why,  then, 
should  the  odium  theologicum  be  so  persistent, 
except  on  the  hypothesis  that  no  one  possesses 
the  least  knowledge  about  either  life  or  soul,  and 
therefore  each  apostle  feels  angry  at  being  driven 
into  a  corner  when  pressed  for  demonstration  ? 
Such,  at  least,  is  the  tolerant  view  the  best  rulers 
of  China  have  always  taken  of  religion.  It  has 
always  been,  and  still  is  held  that  the  Emperor 
and  his  functionaries  are  alone  capable  of  fully 
realising  the  inner  meaning  of  the  classics — Taoist 
or  Confucian — and  that  the  sole  duty  of  each  of  their 


i6  INTRODUCTION  [introd. 

lieges  is  to  co-operate  in  the  universal  harmony, 
at  least  until  by  study  he  himself  forms  one  of 
the  eclectic ;  and  the  door  is  wide  open  to  all. 
For  this  reason  emperors  of  each  important 
dynasty  have  from  time  to  time,  whilst  carefully 
refraining  from  enslaving  the  mind  with  com- 
pulsory dogmas,  issued  paternal  homilies  to  their 
"children,"  inculcating  the  virtues  of  filial  piety, 
respect  for  elders  and  superiors,  neighbourliness 
in  villages,  severity  (with  kindness)  to  children, 
contentment  with  one's  lot,  and  abstention  from 
causing  pain  or  evil.  If  our  Western  missionaries 
would  conform  to  these  simple  principles,  which, 
after  all,  are  Christian  in  spirit,  we  should  hear 
little  of  persecution ;  and  it  is  back  to  these 
simple  principles  that  the  Japanese  seem  to  be 
going  with  their  Shinto ;  perhaps  carrying  the 
Chinese  with  them. 


CHAPTER    I 

china's  primitive  religion 

Untutored  man  and  his  spiritual  fancies.  —  Comparison  with  the 
finer  instincts  of  animals. — First  Chinese  dual  conception  of  the 
yin  and  yang  principles. — Influence  of  the  five  elements. — 
Conciliating  the  Spirits  of  Good  and  Evil. — Observations  drawn 
from  the  order  of  Nature.— The  application  of  Music  as  a  test  or 
measure. — Civilisation  confined  to  the  central  parts  of  what  we 
now  call  China. — Early  rulers  not  necessarily  hereditary  :  origin 
of  the  term  "  Son  of  Heaven." — Filial  piety  and  ancestral  worship. — 
Ritual  duties  to  manes. — Definitions  of  Heaven. — No  dogma  or 
mystery. — Folk-lore  and  superstition  stand  apart. — The  idea  was 
to  conform  human  conduct  to  Nature. — Legendary  period  ends 
B.C.  2200. — Two  later  dynasties  covering  a  thousand  years  :  no 
great  progress  in  religious  thought. — Nine  Virtues,  and  Sin. — The 
three  principal  powers,  Heaven,  Earth,  Man. — Portable  gods. — 
Evil  rulers  chastised  by  Heaven. — Rulers  are  but  links  in  Nature's 
chain.— 7a(3,  or  "  correct  road."— Evil  end  of  the  second  of  the 
two  hereditary  dynasties.—"  Book  of  Changes,"  or  "  Philosophy  of 
Nature."— Real  history  begins  with  the  Chou  dynasty,  B.C.  1122. 
— Kings  replace  "Sons  of  Heaven." — Religious  ideas  remain 
essentially  the  same ;  purely  Chinese. — Heaven  confirms  new 
dynasties  ;  appeals  to  Heaven. — Importance  of  sacrifices. — Exact 
chronology  begins  B.C.  841. — Religious  ties  always  practical  and 
political. — No  terror  of  after  life,  or  conception  of  a  jealous  God. 
— New  marriage  laws  and  extensions  of  worship. — Possibility, 
not  probability,  of  Tartar  influence.— Refinement  in  ceremonies. 
— Disunion  sets  in. — Taoism  and  Confucianism  both  attempt  to 
arrest  politico-religious  decay.— Both  apostles  work  on  purely 
Chinese  old  texts.— One  was  radical,  the  other  conservative  ; 
neither  was  piously  religious  in  the  Western  sense. 

In  their  moments  of  leisure,  which  must  have  been 
numerous,  the    primitive  Chinese,  Hke    the  rest  of 

B  17 


i8  CHINA'S  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION       [chap. 

mankind,  were  puzzled  to  account  for  the  phenomena 
of  human  memory  and  Nature's  changes.     As  each 
day  dawned,  and    the  animals,   birds,  and   reptiles 
began   to  stir,    untutored    man,    when    he    uncoiled 
himself    from     his     distressful     sleep,    would    re- 
gain  some    confidence    from    the   contemplation   of 
recurring   light.      In  a   short  time    the    mysterious 
orb  of  day  would   rise  majestically  from  the  same 
familiar  spot,  or  from  a  point  within  a  certain  arc 
of  the  horizon,  the  extreme  limits  of  which  would 
recall  to  the  mind  statements  of  fathers  and  grand- 
fathers.    As  the  cheerful  rays  of  the  sun  warmed 
up  the  veins  of  the  guileless  savage,  and  stimulated 
his  appetites,  the  desire  for  activity  and  movement 
would  be    combined  with    feelings  of   caution,  lest 
some  angry  beast  or  malevolent  human  rival  should 
emerge  from  well-known  lurking-places  to  contest 
possession  of  the  quarry  or  the  wife.     The  cravings 
of  the  stomach  once  satisfied,  the  winds,  the  storms, 
or  the   heat,  according   to    season,    would    suggest 
the  desirability  of  retreat  and  shelter,  to  be  shared 
with  mate  and  babes.     As  chill  evening  approached, 
and  the  stars  began  to  twinkle,  another  mysterious 
orb,    with    irregular   movement    and    shape,    would 
feebly  light  up  the  awe-inspiring  darkness.     Dreams, 
and  possibly  occasional   nightmares,  would  lead  to 
rude    mental    comparisons   between   conscious    and 
unconscious   life.       Visions    of  parents,   rivals,    and 
enemies  would  inevitably  suggest  inexplicable  rela- 
tions  between   the    absent   and    the   present    folk. 
The    corrupted    body,    finding    its    only    possible 


I.]  THE   STUDY   OF   MANKIND  19 

resting-place  in  the  earth,  or  on  the  bosom  of 
an  endless  river  flowing  no  one  knows  whither, 
would  be  to  the  imagination  eloquent  of  other  and 
unseen  worlds ;  and  of  course  no  simple-minded 
man  can  possibly  picture  to  himself  any  far-off 
worldly  conditions  other  than  those  of  which  his 
experience  has  already  taught  him.  As  the  dead 
bodies  have  manifestly  left  memories  and  visions 
behind,  what  more  natural  than  to  suppose  that 
a  puff  of  once  active  life  has  risen  from  this 
material  corruption  into  the  pure  air,  to  come 
whistling  round  at  some  other  time  in  the  shape 
of  wind,  dust,  hail,  thunder,  lightning,  eclipses,  and 
comets,  according  to  season  and  circumstance  ? 

Ideas  of  this  kind,  modified  according  to 
surroundings,  must  have  occurred  to  all  untutored 
men  alike  in  attempting  to  account  for  these 
strange  things.  Animals,  as  is  proved  by  their 
nice  hereditary  instincts,  are  as  observant  as  men  ; 
and  because  an  animal  does  not  utter  ordered 
sounds  in  the  sense  that  we  call  "speaking,"  it 
seems  logically  hardly  necessary  to  attach  more 
importance  to  the  experiences  of  man  than  to 
those  of  other  animals,  as  all  disappear  from 
existence  with  equal  certainty  and  equal  helpless- 
ness. However,  "the  proper  study  of  mankind  is 
man  "  :  yet,  if  other  living  creatures  are  debarred 
from  sharing  our  intellectual  feasts,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  we  are  equally  unable  to  identify 
ourselves  with  the  progressive  advance  of  animals 
in  what  we   call    "instincts,"   often   so  sublime  as 


20  CHINA'S  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION        [chap. 

to  be  even  inconceivable  to  our  five  senses.  As 
men,  therefore,  we  have  a  natural  tendency  to 
exaggerate  the  importance  of  what  our  earliest 
ancestors  in  their  ignorance  may  have  thought. 
As  that  most  religious  of  men,  Dr  Samuel  Johnson, 
has  well  observed,  "at  the  time  when  very  wild 
improbable  tales  were  well  received,  the  people 
were  in  a  barbarous  state,  and  so  on  the  footing 
of  children." 

If  we  penetrate  so  far  as  we  can  into  Chinese 
antiquity,  we  find  the  earliest  rulers  attempting  to 
conciliate  by  sacrifices,  or  by  offerings  of  food,  the 
spirits  of  the  mountains  and  rivers.  The  ruler, 
or  high  priest,  succeeded  by  degrees  in  co-ordinat- 
ing the  movements  of  heavenly  bodies ;  and  the 
alternations  of  darkness  and  light  suggested  the 
philosophic  conception  of  sky  and  earth,  summer 
and  winter,  shadow  and  glare,  soul  and  body, 
life  and  death,  tempest  and  calm,  man  and 
woman.  This  primitive  conception,  which  runs 
persistendy  through  all  Chinese  astrology,  religion, 
and  philosophy  down  to  the  present  day,  is  known 
as  the  doctrine  of  the  yin  and  the  ya72g,  often 
symbolised  by  a  circle  divided  into  tapering  halves 
of  dark  and  white.  The  next  step  was  to  connect 
the  five  obvious  elements  —  ores,  woods,  water, 
fire,  and  soil  —  with  the  internal  organs  of  the 
body,  the  primary  colours,  and  the  tendencies  of 
individual  character.  The  earliest  rulers  were 
patriarchal ;  but  there  seems,  notwithstanding,  to 
have   always    been    a   stratum   of  middle  -  men    or 


I.]  HINTS   DRAWN    FROM    NATURE  21 

"lords"  between  the  sovereign  and  his  children 
or  people.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  sovereign  to 
take  the  lead  in  conciliating  the  spirits,  or  the 
unseen  powers  who  granted  or  refused  successful 
harvests.  The  spirits  of  men  were  called  kwei, 
and  those  of  Heaven  and  Nature  shen.  It  is  usual 
for  Europeans  to  translate  these  words  by  "ghosts" 
or  "devils,"  and  "gods"  or  "genii,"  respectively: 
the  Chinese  have  never  been  perfectly  successful  in 
depicting  to  our  European  imaginations  what  their 
two  terms  really  do  mean  ;  when  we  shall  have 
agreed  amongst  ourselves  what  our  four  translated 
terms  positively  signify,  it  will  be  time  enough 
to  determine  how  far  they  agree  etymologically 
with  the  Chinese,  The  next  steps  were  to  sub- 
divide winter  and  summer  into  four  seasons ; 
male  and  female  into  degrees  of  kinship ;  to 
mark  the  equinoxes  and  solstices  with  precision  ; 
to  regulate  the  duties  of  husbandry ;  to  note  the 
periods  of  moulting,  hibernating,  and  breeding  ; 
to  balance  the  affairs  of  the  earth  with  reference 
to  the  Pole  Star  as  a  pivot ;  to  distinguish 
between  supreme  sacrifice  to  the  Ruler  on  high, 
and  the  attentions  due  to  the  lesser  and  minor 
deities ;  i.e.  to  the  more  or  less  unseen  specific 
powers  of  Nature  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
visible  objects  of  Nature  on  the  other.  A  com- 
plicated system  of  musical  tubes  symbolised  all 
measures,  such  as  degrees  of  noble  rank,  of 
punishments,  of  weight  and  extent.  The  number 
of  the  elements — five — was  extended  to  cover  the 


22  CHINA'S  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION        [chap. 

principles  of  worship,  mourning,  courtesy,  chivalry, 
and  rejoicing ;  also  to  mark  the  four  points  of  the 
compass  (with  the  imperial  tours  of  inspection 
each  season),  and  the  fifth  point,  or  imperial 
centre,  with  sacrifices  of  oxen  to  royal  ancestors. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  patriarchal  life 
here  described  was  confined  to  the  central  tract 
of  China,  as  we  see  it  depicted  on  modern  maps, 
and  that  beyond  the  line  of  inspection  lay  the 
Tartars  to  the  north,  the  Tibetans  to  the  west, 
the  Annamese  and  cognate  tribes  to  the  south, 
and  certain  savage  tribes  (of  which  no  trace 
remains)  on  the  northern  coasts  of  the  Yellow 
Sea. 

In  the  year  B.C.  2356  the  Supreme  Ruler  had 
decided  not  to  pass  on  the  imperial  authority  to 
a  worthless  son,  but  to  confer  it  upon  a  worthy 
Minister,  who  had  assisted  in  bringing  about  many 
of  the  above  extensions  or  reforms.  This  new 
departure  was  regarded  by  the  incoming  monarch 
as  "  Heaven's  doing,"  and  from  that  moment  he 
took  the  dignity  of  "Son  of  Heaven,"^  which 
belongs  to  the  Emperors  of  China  in  our  day. 
The  most  ancient  explanation  of  the  term  is  that 
"he  was  parent  of  the  people,  ruling  over  all 
under  the  heavens."     This  particular  Emperor  was 

^  The  Hiung-nu  {i.e.  Scythian  Hun,  or  old  Turkish)  tengri-kudu, 
the  Tungusic  and  (later)  Turkish  khaghan  or  "khan,"  the  Persian 
and  Arabic  faghfur.,  and  perhaps  other  Eastern  titles  all  have  the 
meaning  of  T^ien-tss,  or  "  Son  of  Heaven,"  still  used  by  the  Ten-shi 
(sama)  or  Mikado  of  Japan.  It  is  much  the  same  as  the  Western 
Dei  grah'd. 


I]  NATURE   WORSHIP  23 

noted  for  his  filial  piety,  which  virtue  continues 
to  be  the  strongest  religious  force  in  the  Chinese 
mind  ;  in  fact,  he  took  over  the  abdication  in  the 
temple  erected  to  the  spirit  of  his  predecessor's 
ancestor,  a  further  proof  of  the  antiquity  of  this 
form  of  worship.  One  of  the  new  ruler's  first 
acts  was  to  appoint  an  officer  of  worship,  charged 
with  ritual  duties  towards  the  spirits  of  heaven 
and  earth,  and  towards  the  manes  of  individuals. 
Other  ministers  were  charged  with  the  duty  of 
correcting  calumnious  popular  reports  and  govern- 
ing the  people  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
Heaven — here  defined  by  the  commentators  to 
mean  the  physical  heavens,  i.e.  the  seasons  and 
Nature. 

It  will  be  plainly  seen  from  the  above  that 
the  ancient  "religion"  of  China  had  nothing  in 
it  of  dogma,  faith,  or  mystery.  We  are  justified  in 
believing,  or  at  least  surmising,  that  the  masses 
did  not  trouble  themselves  about  deep  thinking 
at  all,  and  were  willing  to  accept  the  principles 
of  government  evolved  by  their  more  leisured 
superiors.  The  superstitions  of  the  vulgar  belong 
rather  to  the  department  of  folk-lore.  From  the 
very  beginning  it  was  the  aim  of  virtuous  rulers  in 
China  to  study  the  order  of  Nature  ;  to  endeavour 
to  rule  human  affairs  on  principles  harmonious  with 
Nature ;  and  to  accept  with  resignation,  whilst 
philosophically  ignoring,  the  possible  prospect  of 
future  spiritual  prolongation  of  this  fleshly  life. 
Parents   were    manifestly    the    immediate    cause   of 


24  CHINA'S  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION        [chap. 

individual  human  life,  and  it  was  not  considered 
necessary  to  speculate  upon  remoter  biogenesis 
beyond  the  evidence  of  the  senses.  The  period 
embraced  ends  in  B.C.  2200,  and  is  usually  called 
the  "Five  Emperor"  period.  It  is,  of  course, 
largely  legendary,  and  there  are  conflicting  ways 
of  determining  precisely  who  the  five  emperors 
were,  and  how  long  they  reigned ;  they  are  even 
connected  sometimes  by  an  obscure  train  of 
thought  with  the  Five  Elements,  The  "  Yellow 
Emperor "  has  the  best  claim  to  be  considered 
the  first  of  them,  because  he  at  least  was  the 
earliest  to  organise  primitive  Nature-thought  as 
above  described.  It  is  also  certain  that  the  last 
of  the  five  was  Shun,  the  first  "Son  of  Heaven" 
by  acclamation. 

Now  come  two  equally  legendary  dynasties, 
lasting  together  over  1000  years.  Though  much 
was  done  for  the  physical  development  of  the 
Empire  during  this  period,  the  religious  ideas 
exhibit  no  great  extension  or  novelty.  Sacrifices 
are  offered  on  mountain-tops  and  at  cross-roads, 
the  evident  intention  being  to  deprecate  or  exorcise 
evil  influences.  The  celestial  order,  which  forms  a 
human  guide,  now  crystallises  into  nine  evidentiary 
virtues ;  to  wit,  firmness  with  consideration,  energy 
with  gentleness,  being  bold  but  respectful,  impera- 
tive but  cautious,  determined  but  submissive, 
unshakable  but  courteous,  careful  but  not  petty, 
strong  but  true,  irresistible  but  just.  Hence  Sin 
or   crime   is    simply    the    disturbance   of    celestial 


^  jn      ^ 


o  P 


c  -r 


C  00 


c   cj  ■- 
P"  c  P 


I.]  VICEGERENT   OF   HEAVEN  25 

routine.  The  mandate  of  Heaven  is  withheld 
from  the  incestuous,  the  sacrilegious,  and  the 
debauched ;  ceremonies  and  music  illustrate  the 
harmonious  movements  of  heavenly  bodies.  The 
Emperor  presents  to  Heaven  his  chosen  and  fit 
successor  according  to  these  tests.  Heaven,  earth, 
and  man  must  be  in  harmony.  Obedient  subjects 
are  rewarded  "  in  front  of  the  ancestor  "  ;  the  dis- 
obedient are  slain  "before  the  God  of  Earth," 
alone  with  their  descendants.  These  last  allusions 
are  to  the  representative  tablets  which  the  Emperor 
carried  with  him  when  on  the  move,  like  the  Ark 
of  the  Covenant,  or  the  Roman   Terminus. 

The  second  of  the  two  dynasties  mentioned 
above  lasted  from  B.C.  1766  to  1122,  and  owed 
its  origin  to  the  absence  of  virtue,  the  tyranny, 
and  nonconformity  with  Heaven's  principles  of 
the  last  ruler  of  the  first  hereditary  dynasty 
ending  in  1766.  The  earliest  duty  of  the  new 
monarch  was  to  punish  the  mesne  lords  who  had 
neglected  their  sacrifices.  He  justified  his  action 
before  an  assembly  of  the  people  :  "  You  have 
all  cried  out  against  guilt.  I  fear  the  Emperor 
on  High,  and  dare  not  but  chastise.  Heaven 
commands  me  to  put  my  predecessor  to  death." 
After  taking  possession,  the  conquering  ruler 
made  some  change  in  the  terfninalia, — so  far  as 
tradition  permitted  of  dynastic  modification.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  find  later  emperors  of  the 
new  house  reporting  serious  political  matters 
to   the   ancestral    shrine.       The    following   speech 


26  CHINA'S  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION        [chap. 

delivered  about  B.C.  1340,  after  internal  troubles 
had  necessitated  a  change  of  title  in  the 
"  restored "  dynasty,  well  illustrates  the  religious 
views  of  the  age  : — 

**  Be  your  majesty  calm !  Reform  the  govern- 
ment. Heaven  looks  down  on  those  below,  and 
grants  them  years  according  to  their  compliance 
with  immutable  laws.  It  is  not  Heaven  which 
cuts  off  man's  destiny  prematurely,  but  man  who 
neglects  virtue  and  breaks  off  his  own  career.  It 
is  the  hereditary  duty  of  rulers  to  care  for  the 
people,  and  each  of  them  is  a  continuing  link 
in  the  ordered  scheme  of  Heaven.  Sacrifices 
must  be  regular,  not  so  excessive  as  to  travel 
beyond  the  correct-road." 

This  idea  of  a  taOy  or  correct-road,  is  henceforth 
to  run  through  all  Chinese  philosophy.  During 
this  dynasty,  too,  deceased  emperors  of  merit 
began  to  be  called  divi,  or,  as  the  Chinese 
express  it,  avi ;  for,  as  we  see,  the  "  ancestral 
gods "  are  mere  links  connecting  the  virtuous 
ruler  with  Heaven  and  the  Emperor  on  High  : 
on  the  other  hand,  the  wicked  ruler  is  rejected 
of  the  people.  This  was  the  case  with  the  last 
monarch  of  the  second  dynasty,  an  extremely 
clever  but  at  the  same  time  cruel  and  debauched 
man.  One  of  the  feudal  lords,  the  "  Chief  of  the 
West,"  undertook  to  represent  the  grievances  of 
his  vassal  colleagues  and  the  people  ;  for  this 
he  was  imprisoned  by  the  tyrant,  and  tradition 
says  that  he  beguiled  his  prison  hours  by 
composing    the    celebrated     "  Book   of    Changes," 


I.]  THE   WRATH    OF    HEAVEN  27 

the  handbook  of  all  metaphysical  learning. 
His  son  slew  the  wicked  autocrat,  and  founded 
the  celebrated  reforming  dynasty  of  Chou,  with 
which  Chinese  history  properly  so  called  really 
begins.  This  was  in  B.C.  1122.  After  the  son's 
death  the  title  "  Son  of  Heaven  "  was  abandoned 
in  favour  of  "  King." 

There  is  absolutely  nothing  in  Chinese  history 
to  connect  the  "  West  "  with  any  remoter  region 
than  the  Shen  Si  province  of  to-day ;  but  it  is 
certain  that  this  Western  dynasty  revolutionised 
the  social  life  of  China.  Still,  the  new  ideas 
worked  into  the  "  Book  of  Changes"  were  of  old 
Chinese  stock,  just  as  the  ancestors  of  their 
promoters  had,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Five 
Emperor  period,  been  purely  Chinese  vassal 
princes.  Their  westerly  position  had  brought  them 
into  close  contact  with  the  Tartar  and  Tibetan 
tribes,  whose  manners,  and  therefore  possibly  whose 
religious  ideas,  several  of  them  had  adopted  ;  but 
a  feeling  of  duty  to  their  people  had  decided 
them  to  avoid  bloodshed,  and  to  migrate  further 
in  towards  Central  China  rather  than  go  to  war. 
The  grounds  upon  which  at  last  the  mandate  of 
Heaven  was  accepted  were  that  the  Emperor 
had  separated  himself  from  Heaven,  neglected 
his  ancestral  sacrifices,  corrupted  the  three 
principles  of  Heaven,  Earth,  and  Man,  quarrelled 
with  his  relatives,  listened  to  female  cajolery, 
substituted  pleasure  songs  for  orthodox  music,  and 
so  on.     "When  the  hen    crows  in  the  morn,  ruin 


28  CHINA'S  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION        [chap. 

is  coming  apace."  The  first  act  of  the  conqueror, 
after  dishonouring  the  bodies  of  his  late  suzerain 
and  his  guilty  women,  was  to  repair  the  desecrated 
altar  of  the  God  of  Earth,  pouring  thereon 
a  libation  of  pure  dew ;  a  victim  was  offered, 
and  the  "Supreme  Emperor  of  Heaven"  was 
solemnly  invited  to  confirm  the  change  of 
dynasty.  Offerings  were  made  without  delay 
to  the  souls  of  those  who  had  perished  in  the 
fighting,  and  the  conquered  empire  was  largely 
re-distributed  in  fiefs  to  the  new  ruler's  own 
relatives,  or  to  the  descendants  of  past  emperors. 
It  may  be  useful  to  mention  here  that  to  the  King's 
own  brother  was  given  the  district  (still  so  called) 
of  K*iih-fu — thenceforward  the  capital  of  the  State 
of  Lu,  to  be  later  immortalised  by  Confucius. 
Whilst  the  monarch  was  thus  engaged,  he  fell 
seriously  ill ;  the  brother  in  question  at  once 
purified  himself,  offered  himself  as  a  victim,  and 
secured  from  Heaven  his  senior's  convalescence. 
Now  followed  an  Augustan  period  of  peace  and 
glory  :  the  rites  and  music,  rules  and  measures, 
once  more  took  their  orthodox  forms ;  odes  and 
ballads  were  sung  everywhere  by  a  contented 
people.  The  leading  feature  in  the  new  system 
was  the  minute  attention  paid  to  sacrifices  of  all 
descriptions,  in  which  not  only  Chinese  vassal 
rulers,  but  also  tributary  and  barbarous  outlying 
regions  were  bound  under  pain  of  chastisement 
to  take  a  part.  Some  of  these  were  daily,  as 
those    to    deceased    parents  ;    some    monthly,    as 


1.]  NO  JEALOUS   GOD  29 

those  to  great-grandparents  ;  others  quarterly 
and  yearly,  to  remoter  ancestors ;  and,  finally,  the 
great  imperial  sacrifices  on  demise  of  the  Crown. 
The  period  of  exact  chronology  begins  with 
the  year  b.c.  841,  and  up  to  that  date,  accordingly, 
nothing  can  be  very  certain  :  d  fortiori,  is  it 
impossible  to  define  with  precision  the  earliest 
Chinese  religious  notions.  But  from  what  has 
been  predicated  above,  it  is  plain  that  there  was 
little  mystery,  and  that  the  religious  ties  were 
of  a  practical  and  political  nature.  Conformity 
was  required,  but  only  in  the  sense  that  we 
moderns  are  required  to  conform  to  the  Law. 
There  was  no  dogma,  no  terror  of  after  life,  no 
conception  of  a  jealous  Deity  in  any  way  different 
from  the  human  soul.  As  to  the  innovation 
introduced  by  the  kings  of  the  Chou  dynasty, 
the  most  original  was  a  law  forbidding  marriage 
between  persons  bearing  the  same  family  name ; 
and.  subject  to  slight  concessions  in  the  case  of 
two  or  three  extremely  common  family  names, 
this  rule  has  never  ceased  to  be  strictly  operative. 
Ancestral  worship  and  mourning  for  the  dead 
were  extended  and  developed ;  posthumous  titles 
and  sacrificial  or  temple  names  were  longer 
confined  to  the  ruling  clans.  Feudalism  became 
more  pronounced  among  the  mesne  lords  or 
electors,  many  of  whom  were  now  rather  princes 
of  the  imperial  house  than  chiefs  of  clans  as  of 
old.  The  main  result  was  unfortunate,  for  these 
family  princes  soon  began  to    intrigue  against  the 


30  CHINA'S  PRIMITIVE  RELIGION        [chap. 

King.  The  establishment  of  an  imperial  harem 
with  its  corrupt  train  of  eunuchs,  imitated  on  a 
smaller  scale  by  the  courts  of  the  princes,  is  the 
one  novelty  which  suggests  Tartar,  Assyrian,  or 
Persian  influence  ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  of 
such.  The  number  of  officials,  and  consequently 
the  weight  of  taxation,  was  largely  increased ; 
and  as  though  to  give  these  parasites  something 
to  do,  ceremonial  observances  were  practised  up 
to  the  point  of  a  fine  art.  The  result  of  all  this 
was  that  disunion  and  contentiousness  were 
generated  in  China ;  each  rival  court  had  views 
of  its  own  upon  policy  and  religion ;  and  an 
increasing  mental  activity  gradually  led  to  the 
introduction  of  the  hegemony  system,  under 
which  this  or  that  great  power  amongst  the 
vassal  kingdoms  assumed  the  political  lead  for 
several  years,  and  often  overawed  the  royal 
court   itself. 

It  must  be  noted  that  in  the  year  B.C. 
874  the  extreme  Western  state  of  Ts'in, 
corresponding  to  the  modern  Shen  Si  province, 
had  withdrawn  from  the  imperial  system,  and 
whilst  interferins:  in  Chinese  affairs  whenever 
interest  required  it,  had  remained  a  practically 
independent  civilisation  until  B.C.  374.  It  was 
during  this  period  of  mental  convulsion  that 
Taoism  and  Confucianism  were  evolved,  the  idea 
of  both  apostles,  Lao-tsz  and  Confucius,  being 
one  and  the  same, — that  is,  making  use  of  the 
old  literature,  based   upon  the  eternal  and  natural 


I.]  CONTRASTED   TEACHINGS  31 

principles  imperfectly  shadowed  above,  to  save 
society  by  crystallising  existing  knowledge, 
experience,  and  thought  into  a  workable  scheme 
of  government.  In  neither  case  was  there  any 
religion — in  our  European  sense  of  piety,  praise, 
and  repentance.  The  main  difference  was  this  : 
Lao-tsz  was  a  rugged,  radical  denouncer  of  the 
Jeremiah  or  Carlyle  type.  Confucius  was  a  man 
of  comfort,  order,  reverence,  and  courtliness.  It 
will  be  for  us  now  to  examine  how  these  two 
"religions"  grew  up. 


CHAPTER    II 

TAOISM 

The  old  literature  and  spiritual  thought. — The  mass  of  popular  life 
still  primitive. — The  classical  foundations  of  religious  thought. — 
Astrologer  and  Historian  the  same,  because  Man  works  on 
Heaven's  lines. — Lao-tsz,  or  Laocius,  the  Apostle  of  Taoism, 
was  such. — Military  strife  causes  a  longing  for  spiritual  peace. 
— Old  religious  thoughts  with  novel  interpretations. — The  masses 
are  of  Heaven  as  much  as  the  classes. — Laocius  leaves  China  in 
disgust. — His  evolution  compared  with  that  of  Spencer  {vide 
Appendix). — The  influence  of  cultured  Taoism  greater  than  that 
of  Confucius ;  a  fortiori  than  of  Buddhism. — Laocius  was  for 
Home  Rule :  he  disapproved  of  learning  as  such. — Fill  the 
stomach,  and  the  soul  will  take  care  of  itself. — Prepared  to  fight 
for  pure  principle  :  a  soldier's  honour  :  no  joy  in  warfare  as  such. 
— Government  a  necessary  evil ;  Laocius  no  anarchist. — Objects 
to  imperial  blustering  ;  glorifies  self-effacement. — The  philosophy 
of  Marcus  Aurelius. — Nothing  said  of  Faith,  Prayer,  Dogma,  or 
Piety. — Justice  and  benevolence  are  a  kind  of  complacent 
hypocrisy. — No  punishments  in  future  life ;  no  sin  or  crime 
except  as  against  Nature. — Virtues  connote  vices ;  better  be 
without  either. — Woman's  place  in  Laocius'  scheme ;  an  indis- 
pensable "  functionary." — All  pleasures  are  subjective,  and  human 
life  is  consciousness  ;  the  enduring  of  the  body  of  minor  im- 
portance.— Laocius'  interviews  with  Confucius.— Laocius  induced 
to  write  a  book  before  disappearing  into  space  {inde  Appendix). 
— Traditions  of  a  connection  between  Laocius  and  Buddha. — 
Laocius  and  Taoism  both  purely  Chinese,  and  of  undoubted 
authenticity :  his  imitators  all  inferior. — Degenerate  modern 
Taoism  :  medical  admixture  :  origin  of  elixir  quackery. — Taoism 
exploited  by  mischievous  ambitions. — Destruction  of  literature  in 
B.C.  213. — Rivalry  of  Confucianism,  and  then  of  Buddhism. — 
Cumbrousness  of  ancient  books. — Most  modern  Chinese  virtues 
may  be  traced  through  Taoism. — Humility  the  key. — The  Pope 
of  Rome  in  1905  speaks  as  a  Taoist. 

During   all   this    time  a  literature   had    existed  in 

3z 


CHAP.  II.]    VARNISH-INSCRIBED  SHINGLES         33 

China,  and  from    portions    of   it  that    still    survive 
we  are  able  to  form   fairly  distinct  notions  of  the 
spiritual  thought.     Had  the  Chinese  written  upon 
clay,  like    the    Mesopotamians ;    or   upon    flax  and 
the  papyrus,  like  the   Egyptians  ;  we   might   have 
been   able   to    reconstruct    for    ancient    China    the 
scenes  of  daily   life   and    barter.     Chinese    life    in 
the  far  interior  is,  or  was  until   Europe  arrived  in 
force  fifty  years  ago,  so  simple  that  we  may  suppose 
without  risk    that   the    social  and  economical  con- 
ditions are  now  not    far   removed  from  what  they 
were    2000   or    even    4000   years   ago.       But   the 
Chinese  wrote  upon  perishable  wood,  which  could 
neither  be    baked  into  eternity,  nor  wound    round 
air-proof    and    damp-proof    mummies :    hence    we 
possess  scarcely  a  shred  of  script  more  than  2500 
years  old,  and  none  of  that  touches  upon  popular 
life.     Moreover,  the  ancient  "Classics"  which  have 
been    preserved    for    us,    though    they    teem    with 
allusions  to  the  Five  Emperor  and  Three  Dynasty 
periods,   were    none   of  them    conceived    until    the 
beginning  of  the  last  of  the  three  dynasties — that 
of  Chou — or  put  together  in  their  present  form  till 
near  the  close  of  that  dynasty.     Moreover,   much 
of  the  cumbrous   wooden    literature  of  China  was 
deliberately  consigned    to  the    flames  in    B.C.    213, 
as  we  shall  see ;  and  therefore  what  we  still  possess 
had  in  most  cases    to   be   reconstituted  by  appeal 
to  memory,  or  by  digging  up   buried   texts  which 
had    meanwhile     become     partly    obsolete.       The 
"Classics"  are  the  "Book  of  History"  (only  half 


34  TAOISM  [CHAP. 

of  which  could  be  reconstituted  even  imperfectly) ; 
the  "  Book  of  Changes,"  an  unfathomable  system  of 
evolution  and  divination  based  upon  certain  mystic 
symbols  or  groupings  of  lines  ;  the  "  Book  of  Odes," 
containing  satirical  and  other  songs,  sometimes  of 
a  political  nature  :  these  were  edited  in  later  days, 
and  in  any  case  only  four  or  five  refer  back  even 
so  far  as  to  the  second  of  the  three  dynasties  ;  and 
the  *'  Books  of  Rites  " — one  being  official,  the  other 
domestic — which  give  us  more  or  less  vivid  notions 
of  the  formal  side  of  Chinese  life.     There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  best  standard  versions  of  these, 
and  of  any  other  important  official  works  then  exist- 
ing, were  kept  at  the  royal  court  in  Central  China, 
and  that  copies  were  secured  by  the  minor  courts  of 
the  vassal  princes.     The  fact  that  the  keeper  of  the 
archives  and  the  astrologer  were  one  and  the  same 
person    brings  out   more    clearly  the    circumstance 
already    suggested,    that     in    ancient     China    the 
movements    of  heavenly    bodies   were  indissolubly 
associated  with  the  vicissitudes  of  man  ;  and  that, 
from  the  very  beginning,  any  religion  that  existed 
was  simply  religious  duty  towards  the  state  organism, 
as  part  of  the  organism  of  Nature.     As  the  "  Book 
of  Changes  "  says  : — 

"Regard  the  divine^  road  of  Heaven,  and  the 

^  This  shen-tao,  or  "  divine  path,"  is  the  shin-to  of  Japan.  The 
word  "  empire "  is  generally  expressed  by  "  below  heaven,"  the 
supposition  having  always  been  that  the  "  Son  of  Heaven "  is 
Vicegerent  over  the  world. 


II.]  CHINESE   ELECTORS  35 

unerring  sequence  of  season.  The  holy  man  sets 
his  teaching  by  this  divine  road,  and  the  Empire 
submits  accordingly." 

Lao-tsz,  whose  name  is  permanently  associated 
with  the  Taoist  religion — that  is  to  say,  with  the 
doctrine  of  tao  or  "the  course  (of  Nature)" — was 
keeper  of  the  archives  at  the  royal  or  imperial 
court  during  the  sixth  century,  and  as  such  he  was 
naturally  in  close  touch  with  his  fellow  astrologers 
and  historians  at  the  minor  courts.  The  restoration 
of  B.C.  827  had  not  done  much  to  arrest  imperial 
decay,  and  in  B.C.  770  the  Central  Government 
definitely  moved  east  to  the  modern  Ho-nan  Fu. 
The  "  Powers "  were,  like  so  many  competing 
Caesars,  more  or  less  intimately  related  to  the 
supreme  Augustus,  and  each  was  attempting  to 
assert  de  facto  pretensions  to  coerce  Augustus,  if 
not  secretly  harbouring  hopes  to  become  himself 
the  de  jure  Augustus  of  China.  Just  as  under  the 
decaying  Roman  system  the  title  of  Caesar  was 
frequently  and  freely  distributed,  so  the  "grasper 
of  the  ox's  ear "  in  China  variously  asserted  the 
shifting  hegemony.  The  situation  might  be  also 
compared  with  the  pretensions  and  hopes  of 
German  electors  to  succeed  to  the  honours  of 
the  mediaeval  Roman  Empire.  It  was  after  a 
couple  of  centuries  of  this  bloody  strife  and  base 
intrigue  that  Laocius  (if  we  may  so  latinise  his 
name)  began  to  acquire  universal  reputation ; 
and  men's  minds  were  all  the  more  ready  to 
hearken    to    the    new    gospel    of    self-denial    and 


36  TAOISM  [CHAP. 

democracy  in  that  all  but  the  ambitious  militarists 
were  beginning  to  grow  sick  of  intestine  strife. 
What  Laocius  particularly  preached  was  the 
emptiness  of  rank,  luxury,  and  show ;  the 
superiority  of  mind  over  matter ;  the  importance 
of  being,  rather  than  of  having.  There  is  not 
much  novelty  in  the  texts  from  which  he  deduces 
his  conclusions  :  almost  every  clear  sentence  that 
he  utters  can  be  referred  back  to  the  old  classics 
from  which  he  manifestly  drew  his  inspiration.  In 
short,  he  was  simply  a  reformer,  superimposing,  as 
it  were,  a  New  Testament  upon  the  accepted 
but  misinterpreted  structure  of  the  Old.  The 
degenerate  moderns,  as  they  were  to  him,  had 
gradually,  whilst  nominally  performing  their 
sacrifices  and  conforming  to  Heaven's  eternal 
laws  as  of  old,  allowed  their  ambitions,  their 
cupidity,  their  lusts,  and  their  caste  pride  to 
obscure  their  capacity  for  interpreting  rightly  the 
grand  old  keys  to  human  happiness.  Those 
neglected  keys  had  done  good  service  during 
the  philosophical  period  of  the  patriarchal  Five 
Emperors,  and  during  the  semi-feudal  period  of 
the  first  two  dynasties,  when  Central  China,  by 
means  of  her  superior  civilisation  and  "pacific 
penetration,"  had  triumphed  over  her  cognate 
neighbours ;  and  had,  by  a  system  of  artificial 
kinsmanship  allied  to  adoption,  made  native  chiefs 
believe  that  they  were  becoming  pure  Chinese. 
Earlier  records  confined  themselves  to  stating 
what    emperors    thought    and    did.       During    the 


II.]  A    VOICE   CRYING  37 

third  or  Chou  dynasty,  each  court,  when  decay 
had  set  in,  recorded  by  preference  its  own  ruler's 
independent  thoughts  and  acts.  The  people 
languished  in  misery  or  bled  themselves  in  wars 
solely  for  the  ambition  and  luxury  of  an  ever- 
increasing  warrior  caste ;  and  Laocius  was  the 
very  first  to  place  the  claims  of  the  masses  on  an 
equal  footing  with  those  of  the  classes  and  the 
Supreme  Ruler.  At  first  these  notions  were 
enthusiastically  received ;  but  Laocius  found  in 
his  old  age  that  human  passions  were  too  strong 
for  him.  After  "howling  in  the  wilderness"  of 
solitude  until  old  age  forced  him  to  think  of  his 
end,  he  decided  to  shake  the  dust  of  ungrateful 
China  from  his  feet,  and  to  seek  death  and  oblivion 
in  the  real  wilderness  of  the  West. 

So  far  as  Laocius'  doctrine  simply  developed 
the  ancient  conceptions  of  the  yi7t  and  the  yang, 
the  five  elements,  three  principles  or  primaries, 
the  indestructibility  and  mutability  of  Nature,  and 
his  own  extended  theory  of  evolution  generally,  we 
are  scarcely  justified,  even  at  this  distance  of  time, 
in  ridiculing  him  ;  for  "our  great  philosopher,"  after 
all  his  life's  labours  under  the  most  favourable  cir- 
cumstances of  access  to  stores  of  ascertained  facts, 
has  scarcely  advanced  one  step  beyond  Laocius 
in  solving  the  mystery  of  who  we  are  and  why  we 
are  here.  The  utmost  we  can  do  is  to  say,  with 
Huxley  :  "If  we  could  ijnagine  ourselves  to  have 
existed  100,000  years  ago,  we  might  expect  to 
have  then  witnessed   the   gradual   development   of 


38  TAOISM  [CHAP. 

life  out  of  inorganic  matter."  Such  as  Laocius' 
necessarily  hazy  theories  were,  they  are  given  in 
full  in  the  Appendix  to  this  work  ;  so  far,  at  least, 
as  it  is  possible  to  understand  and  translate  them. 
They  seem  to  be  a  kind  of  Monism,  minus  the 
basis  of  applied  science  which  has  enabled  the 
latest  German  philosophers  to  express  it  more 
clearly.  But  his  declamations  and  denunciations 
of  the  corruption,  heartlessness,  and  vanity  of  his 
day  are  perhaps  as  applicable  to  our  own  times 
as  to  the  Fiehtins:  States  Period  of  China.  He 
was  an  apostle  of  simplicity,  and  pleaded  in  season 
and  out  of  season  consistently  for  a  return  to 
Nature.  It  is  this  part  of  his  doctrine  which  has 
always  been  quite  as  comprehensible  to  the  lettered 
Chinese  as  the  incisive  words  of  Voltaire  or  Diderot 
have  been  to  the  cultured  of  Europe.  Buddhism 
has  never  exercised — we  might  even  say  Con- 
fucianism has  never  exercised — anything  like  the 
durable  influence  upon  the  cultured  Chinese  mind 
that  pure  and  unadulterated  Taoism  has.  Through- 
out the  ages,  solemn  quotations  from  the  Taoist 
classic  have  ever  been  in  the  minds  of  statesmen 
at  supreme  moments ;  it  is  doubtful  if  a  single 
historical  instance  can  be  cited  where  a  saying  of 
Buddha  has  conveyed  solace  or  warning  to  the 
world  from  the  mouth  of  a  really  first  -  class 
Chinese  statesman  or  scholar. 

Laocius  was,  so  to  speak,  secretary  of  state  at 
the  imperial  court  just  at  the  time  when  the  royal 
power  was  becoming  ridiculous  ;  when  unscrupulous 


II.]  A   UNIVERSAL   PRINCIPLE  39 

diplomats  and  ambitious  princes  were  dragging 
the  home  -  loving  people  from  their  tillage  and 
their  weaving  to  shed  their  blood  in  distant  and 
unprofitable  wars.  Each  menacing  vassal  lord 
vied  with  the  other  in  extravag^ance  and  maonifi- 
cence :  the  king  or  emperor  was  often  a  mere 
puppet  in  the  hands  of  a  "protecting"  mesne- 
lord.  Ill-gotten  treasures  were  amassed  from 
plundering  wars,  which  were  often  fought  on  the 
flimsiest  pretexts  of  outraged  dignity.  Laocius 
drew  pictures  of  an  ideal  and  idyllic  age,  when 
"home  rule"  should  reign  in  all  tracts  bounded 
by  Nature's  lines ;  when  men  attended  to  their 
own  business  without  carkinof  cares  or  anxieties, 
without  recking  what  might  be  going  on  beyond 
the  brook  which  circumscribed  their  villaee.  He 
discouraged  "learning"  as  such,  for  at  best  it  only 
repeated  what  other  men  like  ourselves  had  said, 
and  moreover  inclined  men  to  make  invidious  and 
vain  personal  distinctions.  The  only  eternal  study 
was  how  to  arrive  at  the  principle  of  the  "right 
way."  Once  this  principle  ascertained,  it  was 
applicable  to  all  possible  sets  of  circumstances 
which  might  occur.  The  point  was  to  avoid 
creating  artificial  circumstances,  and  thus  cumber- 
ing the  mind  with  artificial  remedies  for  such. 

As  one  of  Laocius'  chief  tenets  is  the  vanity  of 
petty  human  distinctions,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  he  never  once  mentions  a  specific  person 
or  place.  There  is  no  evading  the  manifest 
elementary   fact    that    the    human    body    is    here, 


40  TAOISM  [CHAP. 

and  must  be  fed ;  it  is  the  hungry  and  dis- 
satisfied stomach  that  stimulates  the  mind  to 
evil.  Hence,  feed  to  repletion,  deal  with 
events  as  they  come  in  a  spirit  of  nature  and 
reasonableness,  i.e.  of  human  nature  as  ascer- 
tained by  incessant  contemplation  of  the  tao  or 
"order"  of  things.  To  employ  a  modern  simile: 
having  once  generated  the  true  spirit  of  the 
right  way  in  the  mind,  all  that  is  necessary  is 
'*  to  switch  it  on  "  as  wanted,  when  it  irresistibly 
solves  all  entanglements,  equalises  all  irregularities, 
and  subdues  all  excesses.  So  completely  does 
Laocius  recognise  the  possibilities  of  frail  human 
complications,  and  so  practical  is  he,  that  he  even 
admits  the  necessity  of  sacrificing  life  on  a  whole- 
sale scale  in  order  to  assert  the  legitimate  power 
of  tao  ;  and  we  could  not  have  a  better  modern 
illustration  of  this  application  than  the  flinging 
away  by  the  Japanese  of  countless  bushi^  lives 
on  the  battlefield,  in  order  to  secure  to  the  majority 
and  to  their  country  in  the  future  the  full  results 
of  the  all-pervading  power  or  principle  thus  applied 
to  unfortunate  circumstances.  The  attitude  of 
the  orbate  and  Spartan  General  Nogi  is  expressed 
in  Laocius'  own  words  :  — 

"Warfare  is  an  inauspicious  engine,  and  not 
the  engine  of  the  accomplished  man,  who  only 
makes   use  of   it    when    unavoidable.      When    the 

^  Bushido,  or  as  the  original  Chinese  words  are  now  pronounced, 
Wu-shi  Tao.,  means  the  "principles  of  the  military  man,"  or  "a 
soldier's  honour,"  as  we  might  say  in  England, 


II.]  NECESSARY   EVILS  41 

butchery  of  human  beings  is  very  heavy,  we 
should  bewail  the  fact  with  weeping  and  mourning  ; 
and  thus,  when  the  victor  emerges  from  the  fight, 
he  should  be  associated  with  the  melancholy 
insignia  of  death  and  destruction,  and  not  with 
triumph." 

Even  Government  was  viewed  in  the  light  of 
an  indispensable  executioner,  and  placed,  with  the 
war-lord,  in  the  category  of  necessary  evils.  Just 
as  ordinary  individuals  were  warned  not  to  amuse 
themselves  too  curiously  with  the  headsman's  art, 
so  the  ruler  is  advised  to  keep  the  objectionable 
arcana  of  his  craft  concealed  from  the  common 
people.  But,  whilst  regarding  all  governments  as 
an  eyesore,  Laocius  does  not  go  to  the  length 
of  Tolstoy  in  denouncing  them  ;  he  is  a  socialist 
without  being  an  anarchist,  and  would  even 
assist  government  to  carry  out  thoroughly  the 
unavoidable  minimum  of  work.  He  admits  that 
all  men  must  be  hammers  or  anvils,  leaders  or 
led,  in  this  imperfect  world.  He  is  totally  against 
the  use  of  force  for  purposes  of  moral  compulsion  ; 
but,  when  force  is  necessary,  he  will  even  admit 
the  use  of  guile  to  deceive  the  foe.  So,  when 
government  measures  are  indispensable,  he  will 
tolerate  deception  on  the  part  of  the  statesman 
in  order  to  gild  the  pill  for  the  uninstructed 
people.  Laocius  leaves  the  assertion  of  superiority 
to  conscious  mental  power,  and  is  entirely  against 
imperial  blustering  and  self-assertion,  gorgeous 
display,    armed    peace,    and    "mailed    fists."      By 


42  TAOISM  [CHAP. 

self-effacement  a  really  able  man  will  find  that  his 
mental  inferiors  unconsciously  insist  on  exalting 
him.  Life  as  we  find  it,  can,  he  knows,  never 
be  pure  Nature  unadorned ;  a  carpenter  must 
hack  the  trees  for  vulgar  uses ;  an  executioner 
must  hack  the  body,  a  governor  tax  the  people, 
a  general  slash  off  heads.  Let  the  fish  remain 
in  his  tank  ;  let  us  each  remain  quiescent  in  our 
respective  spheres.  We  are  not  responsible  for, 
nor  can  we  affect  the  departed  past.  If  we  are 
fortunate  enough  to  "find  salvation  "  in  the  shape 
of  tao,  whatever  our  calling  may  be  when  this 
mental  enlightenment  dawns  upon  us,  let  us  apply 
the  principle  consistently  to  whatever  circum- 
stances may  supervene,  leaving  detail  to  take 
care  of  itself — the  philosophy  of  Marcus  Aurelius. 
We  have  seen  that  in  the  ancient  Chinese 
philosophy  there  was  little  to  justify  our  popular 
use  of  the  word  "religion."  Beyond  notifying 
Heaven,  the  Spirit  of  Earth,  and  the  ancestral 
spirits  of  events,  and  propitiating  them  with 
sacrifice,  there  is  no  trace  of  "faith,"  prayer,  or 
dogma.  Beyond  the  inculcation  of  humility, 
economy,  and  justice,  there  is  no  trace  of  devout 
piety.  In  Laocius'  development  of  the  old  system, 
there  is  even  less  religion  than  before.  Filial  piety, 
tenderness,  and  loyalty  connote  the  absence  of 
those  qualities,  and  the  inference  that  the  bulk 
of  men  are  not  what  they  ought  to  be.  Justice, 
benevolence,  and  learning  would  never  be 
recommended    unless    the    majority    of   men    had 


,1.]  THE   SIMPLE    LIFE  43 

so  neglected  the  simple  principles  of  Nature  as 
to  exhibit  inharmonious  deficiencies  in  those 
appropriate  adjuncts  of  tao.  In  Laocius'  opinion, 
fine  art,  love  of  possession,  greed,  and  crime 
are  on  the  same  level  of  progression  as  learning, 
ceremony,  rank,  and  tyranny.  You  need  to 
unlearn  rather  than  to  learn ;  that  is  to  get  rid 
of  all  unnecessary  adornments  beyond  the  "good 
old  simple  plan."  The  keynote  is  simplicity — in 
dress,  in  mode  of  life,  in  mode  of  expression,  in 
social  form,  in  personal  enjoyment,  husbanding 
of  force,  absence  of  friction,  independence  of 
favour  ;  avoidance  of  flurry,  of  emulousness, 
argumentativeness,  luxury,  display,  exclusiveness, 
restlessness,  and  of  strife.  There  is  not  the 
faintest  suggestion  of  punishment  in  a  future 
life;  of  "love"  of  a  jealous  God  as  distinct  from 
devout  respect  for  the  figurative  God  presiding 
over  Nature  ;  of  sin,  except  as  an  outrage  upon 
the  eternal  principles  of  Nature  as  gathered  from 
the  contemplation  of  heaven,  earth,  and  man  ;  or 
of  crime,  except  so  far  as  equality  of  natural  right 
is  infringed.  The  fact  that  continence  and  sobriety 
are  not  so  much  as  mentioned,  and  are  thus  taken 
for  granted,  may  be  an  object-lesson  to  us  less 
thrifty  nations,  and  may  also  help  us  to  under- 
stand why  Laocius  regretted  the  necessity  of  even 
mentioning  justice,  learning,  and  other  virtues, 
regarded  as  indispensable  by  us.  As  he  says  :  "If 
there  were  no  thieves  and  ill-doers,  no  laws  and 
enactments    would    be    necessary ;  if  matters    went 


44  TAOISM  [CHAP. 

on  in  an  orderly  way  at  all  times,  no  virtues  need 
be     named."       Women    are    only    alluded    to    in 
general    terms    as    an    indispensable    and    inferior 
part  of  Nature's  scheme ;  the  intercourse  of  small 
states   with    large    is    ingeniously   compared    with 
that   of    females   with    males ;    it    is    part   of    the 
"nature   of    things,"   and   the    correct    conduct   of 
the  smaller  state    may  in  many  circumstances  put 
it  on  a  moral  equality  with  the  greater,  and    may 
even   lead    to    its    absorption   by   and    its   indirect 
conquest    of    the    greater,    just    as    a    man    may 
yield    to   a   woman's    softer    powers.     But   women 
are  never  specially  or  concretely  mentioned  at  all  : 
throughout    all    grave    Chinese   literature,    in   fact, 
there    has    been   and    is    an    extreme    decency    in 
alluding   to   so    delicate    and    personal    a    subject, 
invariably      considered     as      being     private     and 
irrelevant,  just  as  we   Westerns    consider  allusions 
to  body  linen,  the  workings  of  the  alimentary  canal, 
or   any   other    bodily  function.     As    Laocius    says, 
we  cannot  distinguish  between    the   gem    and   the 
ore  ;  each  has  its    place   in  Nature,  and  from  that 
point  of  view  all    are    equal,  exactly  as  the  spoke 
is    indispensable   to    the    carriage.       Rewards   and 
punishments  had  no  objective  place  in  his  system. 
There    can    be    no     joy    or     sorrow    apart    from 
personality  and  consciousness,  and  the  personality 
which  conforms  with  tao  has  a  subjective  satisfaction 
which    is    independent   of    externals.     Like   water, 
which   always    seeks    the    lowest   place   for   itself, 
the    universal    tao   finds   out   the    minutest   chinks, 


„.]  LAOCIUS'   FAREWELL  45 

solves  and  dissolves,  and  is  irresistible  in  its 
humility  and  persistent  communicability ;  it  is 
unnameable,  and  endures  for  ever  beyond  the 
insignificant  life  of  individuals. 

Confucius,  who  travelled  over  various  states 
with  a  view  to  inducing  princes  to  arrest  the 
degeneration  of  the  age,  visited  Laocius  at  the 
imperial  court,  and  discussed  many  questions  with 
him.  Neither  philosopher  seems  to  have  come 
out  of  the  encounter  with  much  respect  for  the 
other ;  the  elder  man  considered  his  visitor  too 
formal  and  obsequious,  whilst  Confucius  professed 
himself  unable  to  understand  Laocius'  mental  flights. 
It  is  not  clear  how  often  they  met ;  but  shortly 
after  the  year  B.C.  500  the  old  archivist,  recognising 
the  hopelessness  of  inducing  men  to  accept  his 
doctrine  in  the  ever-increasing  struggle  for  political 
power  and  profit,  decided  to  quit  China  altogether. 
He  was  last  heard  of  at  a  certain  pass  on  the 
Western  frontier,  accompanied  by  one  of  his  disciples, 
who  followed  him  into  the  wilds  of  Tartary  or 
Tibet.  Before  he  passed  into  space,  the  official 
in  charge  of  the  outpost  induced  him  to  record 
his  views  in  a  book.  This  is  the  Tao-teh  King, 
a  translation  of  which  is  given  in  the  Appendix. 
The  outpost  official,  like  most  reflecting  men  in 
those  days,  was  himself  a  convert,  and  there  is  a 
book  still  extant,  called  the  "  Pass  Guardian," 
which  develops  many  points  of  the  doctrine  on 
independent  lines ;  but  there  are  evidences  that, 
respectable  though   it    be,  it    is   a   production  of  a 


46  TAOISM  [CHAP. 

very  much  later  age ;  indeed  it  was  not  "  dis- 
covered "  until  1 700  years  after  the  supposed 
author's  death.  There  are  various  traditions 
mentioned  in  standard  Chinese  history  about 
Laocius  having  reappeared  in  Tartary,  Khoten, 
and  India  —  even  that  he  is  the  true  oriofinator 
of  Buddhism  ;  but  these  traditions  have  no  real 
value,  nor  do  the  Chinese  of  repute  ever  pretend 
otherwise.  However,  in  no  case  do  they  seem 
to  doubt  the  absolute  authenticity  of  Laocius' 
book,  which  is,  moreover,  unique  in  style,  and 
has  never  for  any  considerable  period  ceased  to 
exercise  the  most  powerful  influence  on  the  cultured 
Chinese  mind ;  the  more  so  in  that  their  best 
critics  believe  it  to  represent  pure  native  thought, 
based  on  pure  native  literature  and  philosophy, 
unsullied  by  outlandish  heresy. 

Whilst  Laocius  was  alive,  he  had  followers,  but 
no  rival  ;  and  though  after  his  mysterious  dis- 
appearance he  had  imitators,  developers,  exponents, 
and  critics  innumerable,  he  has  never  ceased  to 
be  the  sole  apostle  of  pure  Taoism,  as  evolved  by 
himself  from  materials  common  to  all.  If  it  is 
thought  better  not  to  encumber  these  pages  with  an 
account  of  what  other  philosophers  of  his  school 
wrote,  it  is  because  the  Chinese  from  the  first 
have  had  the  wisdom  to  discern  the  inferiority  of 
their  productions,  and  have  never  for  an  instant 
allowed  the  eccentric  notions  of  these  secondary 
prophets^  to  assume  the  proportions  of  a  national 

^  The  oldest  of  these  is  Lieh  Yii-k'ou,  commonly  called  Lieh-tsz 


„.]  IMMORTALITY  47 

"religion."  Even  at  Buddha's  headquarters  in 
Lhasa,  there  is  a  temple  to  a  Taoist  apostle  of  the 
T'ang  dynasty,  and  only  four  years  ago  the 
Manchu  Resident  invited  the  Emperor  to  add 
further  "divine"  honours  to  his  memory. 

The  degenerate  but  harmless  Taoist  priests  seen 
nowadays  in  the  Chinese  towns  and  villages  no  more 
represent  the  noble  abstractions  of  Laocius  than 
the  negro  bean-feasters  in  America,  or  the  dancing 
revivalists  in  London  depict  the  simple  charity  and 
democracy  of  Jesus  Christ ;  yet  in  both  cases  there 
is  a  pedigree,  and  the  charitable  may  admit  an 
honest  attempt  to  do  well  according  to  dwindled 
lights.  Hwang  Ti,  or  the  Yellow  Emperor,  the 
remote  ancestor  of  Taoism,  had,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, a  strong  vein  of  medical  lore  in  his  learning, 
and  the  great  Chinese  y^sculapius  ^  of  the  sixth 
century  B.C.  adopted  the  name  of  that  Emperor's 
leech.  It  will  be  noticed  that  Laocius  himself 
makes  some  allusions  to  immortality.  He  says 
somewhat  profoundly  that  "only  those  who  succeed 

(Licius),  an  allegorical  writer  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.  More  celebrated 
a  century  later  was  Chwang  Chou,  commonly  called  Chwang-tsz 
(Sancius),  whose  cynical  and  paradoxical  treatise  has  been  translated 
into  English,  and  is  therefore  now  available  to  home  students.  In  the 
eighth  century  of  our  era,  just  when  Buddhism,  Taoism,  Nestorianism, 
Mazdeism,  Manicheism,  and  Mussulmanism  were  all  competing  for 
High  Asia,  the  doctrines  of  Sancius  received  the  imperial  Chinese 
patronage  for  a  brief  season.  To  the  following  extent,  at  least,  Sancius 
is  honoured  beyond  all  other  stars  of  the  second  magnitude.  Taoism 
is  occasionally  styled  "  the  doctrines  of  Lao  and  Chwang." 

^  Pien  Ts'ioh.  The  sixth-century  Pien  Ts'ioh's  real  name  was 
Ts'in  Yiieh-jen,  and  he  is  credited  with  having  partly  discovered  the 
circulation  of  the  blood. 


48  TAOISM  [CHAP. 

in  dying  unforgotten  attain  to  true  old  age  "  ;  and 
"  only  those  who  in  trust  and  innocence  take  their 
lives  in  their  hands  need  no  armour  in  battle,  and 
fear  no  wild  beasts  in  time  of  peace."  These,  and 
a  few  other  apparently  paradoxical  utterances,  were 
greedily  seized  upon  by  inferior  Taoist  philosophers. 
Medical  quacks  and  unscrupulous  politicians  ingeni- 
ously extracted  as  much  of  the  joint  doctrine  of 
Hwang-Lao  as  suited  their  specific  purpose.  The 
founder  of  the  modern  imperial  system  in  B.C.  213 
destroyed  all  the  argumentive  literature  he  could  get 
hold  of,  except  works  on  Taoism,  Astrology,  and 
Medicine,  which  were  considered  positive  "  sciences." 
Up  to  the  beginning  of  our  Christian  era,  Taoism  was 
highly  favoured  by  successive  emperors  and  em- 
presses, often  even  to  the  exclusion  of  Confucianism. 
One  famous  emperor  became  a  victim  of  superstitious 
quacks,  who  pretended  to  brew  elixirs,  turn  base 
metals  into  gold,  and,  in  short,  seized  upon  all  the 
worst  points  of  degraded  Taoism  in  order  to  further 
their  own  ambitious  ends.^  Thus  Confucianism  at 
last  got  its  main  chance ;  and  when  Buddhism 
followed,  Taoist  impostors  were  driven  to  still 
further  shifts  of  hocus-pocus  in  order  to  compete 
successfully  for  popular  favour.  (We  shall  be  better 
able  to  follow  out  these  struggles  when  we  come  to 
speak  of  Buddhism,  Manicheism,  Nestorianism,  and 
Islam.)     But  these  aberrations  of  Taoist  degenerates 

1  Su  Ts'in  and  Chang  I.,  the  celebrated  Machiavelian  diplomats  of 
the  fourth  century  B.C.,  were  both  pupils  of  the  Taoist  recluse  Wang 
Hii,  who  applied  Laocius'  doctrines  to  a  system  of  political  intrigue. 


II.]  EXALTED    HUMILITY  49 

have  nothing  to  do  with  the  question  of  the  grand 
old  principles  of  Laocius,  which  even  in  our  present 
times  are  manifestly  beyond  the  intellect  of  the 
majority  ;  and  this  majority  is  but  a  small  minority 
of  cultivated  men  in  a  sea  of  ignorance  :  how  much 
more,  then,  must  it  have  been  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  ancient  Chinese  masses  at  a  time  when  "  books  " 
were  painfully  varnished  upon  shingles  with  a  bamboo 
style,  and  when  a  "  hundredweight  of  documents  " 
represented  one  day's  work  of  the  very  monarch  who 
burnt  "the  books,"  and  who  could  easily,  by  reason 
of  its  huge  bulk,  call  in  for  destruction  nearly  all  the 
cumbrous  literature  in  the  Empire.  The  stoical 
diplomacy,  contempt  for  luxury  and  show,  democratic 
absence  of  caste  feeling,  universal  veneration  for 
ancestral  ties,  contempt  of  military  glory,  hatred  of 
restless  activity  and  needless  change,  profound 
personal  humility,  resignation  in  the  face  of  suffer- 
ing and  death, — these  and  many  other  remarkable 
qualities  which,  in  spite  of  degeneration  and  uni- 
versal corruption,  mark  the  whole  Chinese  race,  and 
notably  the  best  specimens  of  the  lettered  class,  are 
simply  the  secular  effects  of  the  pure  Taoist  doctrine, 
which  endeavours  to  make  men  conform  in  peace 
and  concord  with  the  decrees  of  Heaven,  whose 
Vicegerent  is  the  "eater  of  the  Empire's  dirt,"  that 
humblest  of  individuals,  the  Emperor.  That  this 
view  is  not  in  itself  presumptuous  may  be  seen  from 
the  following  words  of  Pope  Pius  X.,  taken  from  his 
allocution    as  published  in  the   Times  of  the  28th 

March  last :  Laocius  said  the  same  thing  500  years 

D 


50  TAOISM  [CHAP.  II. 

before  the  Pope's  Master  was  heard  of: — "The 
"  Pope,  who  humbly  holds  on  earth  the  place  of 
"  God,  who  desires  peace  and  agreement  among 
"men,  prays  that  Providence  may  inspire  princes 
"and  peoples  with  ideas  of  concord.  The  ills 
"  which  afflict  humanity  everywhere  are  so  numerous 
"and  so  severe,  that  they  are  enough  without  any 
"  further  troubles  from  the  noise  of  arms  and  the 
"struggles  of  warfare." 


CHAPTER    III 

CONFUCIANISM 

K'ung-tsz,  or  Confucius,  also  an  archivist,  but  local :  had  an  inborn 
taste  for  ceremonies. — Sketch  of  his  life  ;  his  visit  to  Laocius. — 
The  two  philosophers  do  not  admire  each  other. — Confucius 
worked  on  old  texts  :  places  wherein  he  differs  from  Laocius. — 
No  theory  of  rewards  and  punishments  in  a  future  life  :  he  was 
political  and  practical. — No  Western  philosopher  exactly  re- 
sembles him. — A  Jesuit's  appreciation  of  his  "religion." — As  a 
historian. — Dies  a  disappointed  reformer. — At  first  overwhelmed 
by  Taoism.  —  Other  competing  philosophies.  —  The  "First 
Emperor"  resolves  to  be  rid  of  learned  men. — Taoism  not  under 
the  ban  which  was  laid  upon  Confucian  literature. — Comparison 
with  Alexander  the  Great's  destruction  of  Mazde'an  books. — 
Up  to  this  time  the  Chinese  had  never  conceived  of  a  religion  in 
the  Western  sense. — No  "  miracles,"  salvation,  or  "  love  of  God." — 
History  of  Confucius  after  his  death. — His  works  and  failure. — 
Anarchy  of  the  period  B.C.  470-220. —  Era  of  contentious 
philosophy. — Unification  of  China. — Destruction  of  Literature. — 
Survival  of  the  Taoist  classic. — Summing  up  of  the  subject  of 
religion  previous  to  our  era. — Political  use  made  of  Confucius. — 
Chu  Hi's  revival  of  Confucianism. — Mongol  ignorance. — Attitude 
of  the  Manchus. 

Whilst  "  Laocius  "  was  keeping  the  archives  at  the 
imperial  capital  (marked  on  modern  maps  as  Ho- 
nan  Fu),  K'ung-tsz,  similarly  latinised  into  "Con- 
fucius,"^ was  making  his  career  in  the  petty  signorial 

'  The  addition  of  the  syllable/^  to  the  particle  isz  adds  dignity, 
but  it  is  not  conceded  to  many  philosophers.  Thus,  Menfucius  or 
Mencius,  Confucius  or  Concius.  Laofucius  would  be  appropriate,  but 
it  has  never  been  accepted  ;  we  say  Laocius  ;  the  same  with  Licius, 
Sancius,  etc. 

51 


52  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

state  of  Lu  to  the  north-east,  forming  the  south- 
western part  of  Shan  Tung  province.  The  reigning 
duke  bore  much  the  same  relation  to  the  King  or 
Emperor  of  China,  that  the  Duke  of  Weimar  bore 
to  the  "Roman"  Emperor  of  Germany;  and  Con- 
fucius was  his  Grace's  Goethe.  In  his  early  youth 
Confucius  had  displayed  an  inborn  appreciation  of 
ceremonial,  and  had  even  used  tripods,  sacrificial 
dishes,  candles,  and  official  hats  as  playthings. 
Moreover  Lu  had  always  been  a  literary  state,  ever 
since  its  foundation  about  B.C.  iioo  under  the  feudal 
rule  of  the  new  emperor's  brother ;  nor  had  it  been 
so  much  involved  as  the  four  or  five  "  great  powers  " 
amongst  the  vassals  had  been,  in  war  and  diplomatic 
intrigue.  Hence  the  surroundings  were  compara- 
tively favourable  to  the  development  of  a  natural 
bent.  Confucius  married  early,  and  obtained  an 
official  post  as  inspector  of  granaries.  It  is  known 
that  his  marriage  was  not  an  affectionate  one,  and 
that  his  solitary  son  was  by  no  means  a  success. 
Hence  Confucius  had  ample  leisure  to  develop  his 
somewhat  formal  and  rigid  character  in  congenial 
channels ;  to  read  up  diligently  all  the  available 
records  of  the  past ;  and  to  draw  therefrom  the 
sound  principles  of  good  government.  To  eke  out 
his  slender  official  salary  he  took  pupils,  whom  he 
instructed  in  the  arts  of  official,  moral,  and  sacrificial 
deportment,  music,  and  archeology.  When  he  was 
twenty-four  years  of  age  his  mother  died,  and 
Confucius  now  found  opportunity  to  prove  his  filial 
piety  by  fulfilling  to  the  utmost  the  forms  of  mourn- 


,„.]  A    TJTTLE    BRIEF   AUTHORITY  53 

ing  etiquette.  His  father  had  been  a  gallant  soldier  ; 
and  at  the  age  of  seventy,  despairing  of  offspring 
from  his  original  wife,  had  taken  Confucius'  mother, 
a  mere  girl,  as  handmaid  ;  her  remains  were  rever- 
ently placed  in  his  father's  tomb.  After  the  three 
years'  mourning  had  been  fulfilled,  the  Duke  placed 
a  travelling  equipage  at  Confucius'  disposal  in  order 
that  he  might  visit  the  imperial  capital,  as  was  the 
practice  with  cultured  vassals  in  those  days,  in  order 
to  compare  local  documents  with  those  filed  in 
original  at  headquarters,  and  thus  increase  his  know- 
ledge of  antiquity  and  music  ;  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  considered  along  with  astrology  as  a  key  to  the 
fitness  of  things.  Here  he  visited  Laocius.  The 
grim  old  democratic  sage  did  not  give  a  very 
gracious  reception  to  the  young  courtier  from  the 
provinces,  whom  he  seemed  to  regard  with  a  sort  of 
amused  contempt  as  a  mere  master  of  deportment. 
It  was  much  as  though,  during  the  throes  of  the 
Slave  War,  a  European  lord-in-waiting  should  have 
visited  Abraham  Lincoln  with  a  view  to  ascertaining 
his  opinion  upon  the  divine  right  of  kings  and  grand- 
dukes,  the  proper  respect  to  show  to  the  ivohlgeboren 
class,  the  advantages  of  morganatic  marriage,  and 
the  question  what  position  in  Heaven  would  be 
occupied  by  the  coloured  races.  On  the  other  hand, 
Confucius,  whose  mind  was  full  of  veneration  for 
blood  and  rank,  and  for  the  advantages  of  obedience, 
respect,  "justice  and  benevolence"  (the  two  pet 
aversions  of  Laocius),  confessed  himself  unable  to 
understand  all  the  mystic  self-abasement  of  Taoist 


54  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

ideal  rulers,  the  metaphysical  and  astrological  system 
as  extended  to  human  affairs,  and  so  on. 

Whilst   admitting    that    Confucius   was   a   very 
worthy   man,   the  Westerner  fails  to  discover  any 
symptoms  of  extraordinary  genius,  or  any  reason  for 
the  unlimited  admiration  in  which  the  Chinese  hold 
him.     In   his  Miscellaneous   Conversations  (a  book 
compiled   by   disciples),    and    in    those   later   parts 
of  the  royal  Record  of  Rites  emanating  from  Con- 
fucius and  his  disciples,  we  get  more  precise  ideas 
touching  his  character.     He  was  a  moderate  eater, 
but  very  particular  and  nice.      He  was  not  a  tee- 
totaler, but  he  never  got  tipsy.     When  the  mysterious 
forces  of  Nature  manifested  themselves  in  the  shape 
of  storms  or  thunder,  he  considered  it  his  duty  to  sit 
up  with  respect ;    but  he  declined  to  enlarge  upon 
his  reasons  for  so  doing.     He  always  said  a  kind  of 
grace  before  his  frugal  meals  by  offering  an  oblation  : 
but  probably  he  only  followed  common  practice,  for 
the  oriental  custom  of  pouring  out  a  drop  of  liquor, 
or  scattering  a  few  grains  of  food  before  partaking 
of  it,  is  still  in  popular  Chinese  vogue.     Confucius' 
own  deportment  was  in  consonance  with  his  teach- 
ings.    He  used,  giving  them  a  negative  turn,  almost 
the  exact  words  so  familiar  to  all   Christians  :    he 
said  :  "  What  you  do  not  wish  others  to  do  to  you, 
do    not   to  them."     Self-control,    modesty,  forbear- 
ance,   patience,    kindness,    orderliness,    absence    of 
effusiveness    and     passion,     studiousness,    industry, 
mildness,    dutifulness,   neighbourliness,  fidelity,  up- 
rightness, moderation,  politeness,  cerenioniousness  ; — 


m.]  A   GOOD   DECENT    MAN  55 

these  were  the  qualities  which  Confucius  consistently- 
practised  and  taught,  and  which  (with  the  exception 
of  those  printed  in  italics)  Laocius  had  taught  before 
him,  and  most  of  the  prehistoric  teachers  had  taught 
before   Laocius.     He  laid  special  stress   upon   the 
necessity  of  cultivating  intelligence  and  alertness. 
He  abominated  extremes,  and  preached  the  doctrine 
of  the  happy  mean  in   everything ; — in  short,    the 
doctrine  of  the  Peripatetics  ;  a  sort  of  machine-like 
smoothness,  with  no  jerks  or  surprises,  either  on  the 
side  of  virtue  or  on  that  of  vice.     Gloomy  asceticism, 
tearful  emotionalism,  and  passionate  militancy  were 
alike  foreign  to  his  taste.      He  was  neither  a  theolo- 
gian   nor   a    metaphysician.      He    simply    saw    and 
understood  his  countrymen,  and  went  to  history  for 
the   means   of  governing   them  :    according  to   his 
lights,    obedience    to  superiors,  and   recognition   of 
the  "divine  right"  principle  were  essential:  it  was 
herein  that  he  chiefly  differed  from  Laocius.     There 
was  nothing  of  the  fanatic  in  his  composition.     Like 
Laocius,  he  scarcely  alludes  to  specific  members  of 
the  gentler  sex ;    it  seems  as  though  he  despised 
women,  except  as  mothers  ;  that  is,  he  granted  them 
no    such    equality   as    we   do,   and   he   would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  flirtations,  dances,  singing,  or  it 
may  be  presumed  those  harmless  kissing  amenities 
so  popular  with    Europeans.     Mencius,    200  years 
later,  was  the  first  to  qualify  him  as  "holy."     But 
Confucius  declined  for  himself  the  right  to  be  called 
a   saint,   or  even  a  good  man.     He  said  :  "  I  am 
never  tired   of  learning  myself,   and    never  weary 


56  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

of  teaching  others."  He  did  not  wish  to  appear 
censorious.  Though  tolerant  of  old  religious  or 
superstitious  notions,  he  did  not  care  to  go  into 
questions  of  future  life,  extraordinary  things,  spirits, 
devils,  anarchy,  revolution,  and  mystic  doctrines. 
Hence  the  shrugging  of  his  shoulders  at  Laocius. 
In  the  presence  of  the  forces  of  Nature  he  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  awed  but  silent ;  he  declined  to  discuss 
what  he  did  not  understand  :  he  said  :  "  Heaven 
does  not  talk,  and  yet  the  four  seasons  come  with 
regularity."  It  is  scarcely  wrong  to  say  that  pure 
Confucianism  is  no  religion  at  all  in  our  Western 
sense.  Some  missionaries  describe  the  ancient 
notions,  which  Confucius  confined  himself  to  criticis- 
ing and  transmitting,  as  spirit-worship  tending 
towards  fetichism.  What  Confucius  really  did  was 
to  arrange  ancient  ideas  in  orderly  form,  and  revivify 
them  with  notions  of  his  own,  just  as  the  old  Jewish 
teachings  received  fresh  inspiration  in  the  form  of 
Christianity.  The  ancient  idea,  as  explained  above, 
was  that  there  existed  a  Supreme  Power,  and  that 
the  King  or  Emperor,  as  a  sort  of  vicegerent,  was 
the  only  orthodox  channel  of  spiritual  communication 
with  that  power.  In  this  capacity  the  Son  of 
Heaven  was  a  Mediator  for  his  people ;  or,  as 
Laocius  put  it,  "ate  dirt  for  the  Empire."  The 
worship  of  private  families  and  individuals  was 
confined  to  the  spirits  of  deceased  ancestors,  "  To 
sacrifice  to  spirits  not  belonging  to  a  man,"  says 
Confucius,  "is  mere  flattery."  The  Chinese  re- 
garded and  still  regard  the  next  world  as  being  a 


in]  THE    STUDY   OF    MANKIND  '     57 

mere  repetition  of  this,  each  person  in  this  world 
addressinor  himself  to  those  of  his  own  rank  and 
kind  in  the  next.  Confucius,  like  every  one  else 
both  before  and  after  him,  grew  up  totally  ignorant 
of  any  world  except  that  in  which  he  found  himself. 
His  prudent  attitude  has  led  some  European  divines 
to  brand  him  outright  as  a  sceptic,  who  only  veiled 
his  disbelief  out  of  deference  for  antiquity.  But 
that  is  going  too  far.  He  noticed  that  the  imagina- 
tions of  his  fellow-men  led  them  to  express  belief  in 
much  that  was  not  evident  to  him,  so  he  adopted  the 
safe  and  already  sanctioned  course  of  admitting 
nothing  but  the  possible  existence,  in  a  form  not 
quite  apparent  to  him,  of  sentient  beings  that  had 
already  lived  in  this  world.  He  did  not  care  much 
about  the  constituent  elements  of  emotion  or  intellect. 
Metaphysics  had  no  charms  for  him.  It  cannot  even 
be  made  out  whether  he  thought  man's  nature  good 
or  evil  in  its  origin.  He  admits  that  men  are 
naturally  born  different,  but  the  effects  of  such 
initial  differences  are  as  nothing  compared  with  the 
levelling  effects  of  education  and  training. 

Nor  was  Confucius  inclined  to  split  hairs  upon 
the  vexed  question  of  "  Sin,"  or  even  to  speak  of  sin 
except  in  connection  with  the  practical  affairs  of 
life.  "The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man," 
once  more.  On  one  occasion  he  said  that,  setting 
aside  theft  and  robbery,  there  were  five  capital 
sins — malignancy,  perverseness,  mendacity,  and 
two  others  not  very  clearly  defined,  but  which 
look  like   vindictiveness  and   vacillating  weakness. 


58  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

Confucius    was   a    believer    in    the    three    ancient 
forms  of  divination,  and  an  ardent  student  of  the 
mystic    diagrams    dating   in    their    extended   form 
from    600   years    previous   to   his   own   birth.       It 
has   never   been   proved  that  these  diagrams  had 
any  practical   meaning ;   or,    if  they  had,    that  the 
meaning   now  given   to  them   by  curious  students 
expresses  what  Confucius    really  had  in  his   mind. 
Confucius,  in  short,  consulted  the  popular   oracles, 
as   did    the    Greeks   and  the   Romans.       We  may 
disapprove  ;  but  if  it  was  foolish  to  consult  oracles 
of    which    he    knew    nothing,    why   should    it    be 
wiser    to    make    requests    to    spiritual    beings    of 
which  he   also    knew  nothing?      The   government 
of    China   still    publishes   a    list    of  dies  fasti  and 
nefasti,    and    orders   prayers   to   "  save   the   moon " 
at  an  eclipse,  although  its  officers  are  scientifically 
acquainted    with,    and    perfectly    capable    of    fore- 
telling   the    eclipse.       Probably    Confucius    fell    in 
with   popular  views  ;    herein  he   was  of  less  stern 
stuff  than    Laocius.      One   thing   is  quite   certain  : 
whatever    Confucius    believed    in   a  vague  way  as 
to  the  spiritual  form  which  man  took  after   death, 
he  certainly  never  conceived  any  such  idea  as  the 
doctrine   of  rewards  and   punishments.      His  view, 
concisely    expressed,    was    that    "  life   and    death 
are   a   matter  of  destiny ;   wealth  and  honours  are 
disposed    by    Heaven."       In    other   words,    whilst 
approving   individual    effort,   he  counselled  patient 
submission.     To   this  extent,   therefore,  it  may  be 
said  that  Confucius  had  no  religion,  and  preached 


in]  RELIGIOUS    DEFINITIONS  59 

no  religion.  Like  the  Persians  and  Chaldseans, 
the  Chinese  and  the  Tartars  had  a  sort  of  popular 
Sabaean  reHgion,  in  which  worship  was  offered  to 
the  Sun,  Moon,  and  Stars  :  at  times  also  to  other 
forces  of  Nature,  such  as  wind,  the  forests,  and 
the  rivers.  But  some  of  these  beliefs,  including 
certain  forms  of  divination,  may  be  popular 
excrescences  which  have  been  superadded  at  a 
later  date  upon  the  more  ancient  monotheism,  or 
upon  the  sanctioned  state  beliefs  described  in  the 
first  chapter.  Dr  Legge  considered  that  even 
now  this  basis  of  monotheism  is  no  more 
destroyed  by  popular  additions  than  is  our  own 
monotheism  destroyed  by  the  worship  of  saints 
by  large  numbers  of  Christians.  Of  all  the  things 
which  we  Westerners,  as  Christians,  profess  to 
believe,  there  are  only  two  essential  things  which 
it  was  reasonably  possible  for  Confucius  to  believe. 
He  might  have  believed  in  a  Maker  of  Heaven 
and  Earth,  in  the  Resurrection  of  the  Body,  and 
in  a  Life  Everlasting ;  but  that  scarcely  amounts 
to  a  religion,  as  nearly  all  primitive  men  have 
had  beliefs  of  this  kind.  He  probably  did,  in 
common  with  the  received  traditions,  more  or  less 
vaguely  believe  in  a  Supreme  Maker  ;  but,  unlike 
Laocius,  he  did  not  attempt  to  define  or  to 
dogmatise  as  to  what  that  Maker  was,  or  how 
that  Maker  created.  He  preferred  to  discuss  the 
practical  character  of  things  before  his  eyes,  and 
was  indifferent  to  the  causes  of  those  things.  He 
says    nothing    about    the   future   state,    but   holds 


6o  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

that  man  continues,  after  what  we  call  death,  to 
live  on.  The  Chinese  idea  of  death  differs  from 
ours :  thus,  a  man  may  die  and  come  to  life 
again  ;  that  is,  may  lose  consciousness  and  revive  ; 
their  ignorance  of  physiology  precludes  conception 
of  our  absolute  notion  of  death.  In  the  same  way 
with  the  ghost  which  takes  its  departure  on  death  ; 
there  is  always  an  idea  that  it  is  hovering  near  the 
body,  and  may  give  trouble  at  any  time  if  not 
propitiated.  There  have  been  endless  discussions 
amongst  missionaries  as  to  why  Confucius  preferred 
to  speak  impersonally  of  Heaven,  avoiding  the 
personal  form  God,  and  as  to  whether  he  believed 
in  the  efficacy  of  prayer.  In  most  cases  the  argu- 
ments appear  somewhat  biased  by  the  personal  pre- 
conceptions of  the  polemic  ;  that  is  to  say,  he  wishes 
to  prove  that,  if  Confucius  was  good,  it  was  because 
he  believed  what  the  controversialist  believes  ;  if  evil, 
because  he  failed  to  believe  what  the  controversialist 
believes  ;  and  so  on.  This  is,  in  fact,  the  course 
which  the  rival  schools  of  Chinese  philosophy 
themselves  adopt.  Where  Confucius  is  silent, 
they  claim  that  he  expressed  in  general  terms  the 
sentiments  expanded  by  themselves.  In  other 
words,  they  dogmatise.  Thus  Mencius  insists 
that  man's  nature  is  evil,  Cincius^  that  it  is  good, 
in  its  origin.     One  philosophy  pleads  for  universal 

^  Tseng-tsz,  the  philosopher  Tseng,  Confucius'  expositor  and  chief 
disciple  ancestor  of  the  Marquess  Tseng,  former  Minister  to  Great 
Britain.  In  1330,  the  family  chiefs  of  the  Tseng  and  Meng  (Mencius) 
houses  were  made  perpetual  hereditary  dukes,  like  the  representative 
of  the  K'ung  family. 


III.]  CA'   CANNY   RELIGION  6i 

love ;  another  for  pure  selfishness.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  Confucius  steered  clear  of  all  positivism  ; 
he  said,  in  fact,  that  even  his  "medium  policy" 
was  a  shifting  medium,  according  to  time  and 
circumstances  :  in  short,  he  was  in  some  respects 
an  opportunist.  He  objected  to  commit  himself 
so  far  as  to  say  the  dead  were  conscious,  lest  rash 
sons  should  waste  their  substance  in  sacrifices  ; 
he  equally  declined  to  assert  that  they  were 
unconscious,  lest  careless  sons  should  not  sacrifice 
at  all.  At  the  same  time  he  himself  always 
sacrificed  with  becomino-  reverence,  as  thouQ^h  the 
spirits  were  present. 

Some  blame  Confucius  because  he  was  unable 
to  grasp  the  full  nobility  of  the  Taoist  maxim  : 
"  Return  ofood  for  evil."  Confucius  took  time  to 
consider,  and  finally  decided  that  evil  should  be 
repaid  by  justice,  and  good  reserved  for  the 
recompense  of  good.  Moreover,  the  full  Taoist 
context  shows  that  Laocius  by  no  means  advised 
turning  the  cheek  to  the  unjust  smiter.  His 
own  countrymen  find  fault  with  Confucius  for 
glossing  over,  in  his  history,  the  failings  of  men 
of  rank,  worth,  or  his  own  family  connection ; 
Laocius  said,  on  the  other  hand,  there  should  be 
no  respecting  of  persons ;  and  his  countrymen 
respect  him  for  having  said  it.  Confucius  was 
above  all  things  practical,  and  considered  that 
confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  state  was  more 
important  than  the  adequate  alimentation  of  the 
people,    which    again    was    more    vital    than    the 


62  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

possession  of  military  strength  or  learning.  He 
said  :  "  First  enrich  your  people,  and  then  instruct 
them."  As  to  the  concealing  of  historical  truths, 
it  is  hopeless  to  get  men  to  agree  upon  this 
point ;  even  Laocius  advised  the  ruler  to  hide 
and  disguise  his  crafty  methods.  Confucius'  frame 
of  mind  may  be  judged  from  his  reply  to  a 
disciple,  who  was  in  doubt  how  to  act  when  his 
master,  a  feudal  prince,  was  bent  on  a  foolish 
act.  "Oppose  him,  but  deceive  him  not."  That 
is,  do  not  offend  by  showing  your  hand  too 
obtrusively,  but  do  not  conceal  your  hand.  What 
(it  may  be  argued)  is  the  use  of  exposing  the  weak- 
nesses of  those  in  power?  Is  it  of  real  advantage 
to  us  that  Bacon  should  be  proved  to  have  been  the 
meanest  as  well  as  the  wisest  of  mankind  ?  The 
old  Chinese  idea  that  rulers  are  the  vicegerents  of 
God  is  tempered  by  the  conviction  that  bad  rulers 
may  be  dethroned.  Perhaps  Confucius  thought  it 
better  not  to  rake  up  slumbering  guilt  unless  it 
were  possible  to  punish  at  the  same  time.  At  all 
events,  Confucius  was  loyal  to  the  princely  houses, 
and  had  no  axe  of  his  own  to  grind  :  the  utmost 
that  can  be  charged  against  him  is  a  certain 
canniness  which  prefers  to  be  on  the  safe  side ; 
and,  if  it  must  err,  then  to  err  on  the  side  of  cold 
prudence  rather  than  on  that  of  warm  impulse. 
As  to  mere  personal  defects,  perhaps  a  testiness 
of  temper  can  be  not  unfairly  charged  against 
him  ;  and  indeed  against  Laocius  too. 

It  is  a  little  difficult  for  us,  even  after  stringing 


Ill]  CONFUCIUS    NOT   AN   APOLLO  63 

together  such  a  galaxy  of  virtues  as  Confucius 
really  possessed,  to  understand  the  Chinese 
enthusiasm  for  his  memory.  Western  history 
teaches  us  to  admire  manly  grace  and  beauty ; 
bodily  activity  and  love  of  Nature.  Whether  we 
take  our  ideal  military,  civil,  or  ecclesiastical 
heroes,  our  poets,  philosophers,  or  lawyers,  we 
find  no  character  closely  resembling  Confucius. 
Even  the  founders  of  our  principal  religions, 
including  those  of  Buddhism  and  Mohammedanism, 
have  very  little  of  Confucius  in  their  attitude ; 
notwithstanding  that  in  the  two  instances  of 
Christianity  and  Buddhism  the  qualities  which 
have  secured  the  reverence  of  hundreds  of  millions 
are  in  many  respects  precisely  the  qualities 
possessed  by  Confucius.  Confucius  commands 
the  regard  of  the  European  critics  ;  but  somehow 
it  always  seems  that  he  does  not  secure  a  full 
measure  of  respect.  He  certainly  was  not  a 
handsome  man ;  his  heavy  round  back,  long 
ears,  projecting  teeth,  and  misshappen  head  were 
scarcely  heroic ;  he  disliked  to  discuss  athletic 
sports  ;  his  habit  of  moving  about  in  a  springless 
ox-cart,  or  when  on  foot  with  his  arms  extended 
like  wings,  scarcely  suggests  perfect  dignity  to  us  ; 
his  skill  as  a  musician  would  perhaps  appeal  more 
strongly  to  our  sympathy  if  we  understood  better 
the  part  assigned  to  music  in  ancient  social  life, 
and  were  ignorant  of  modern  Chinese  music.  At 
the  same  time,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
much  of  the  ancient  theory  and  science  of  music 


64  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

has  been  lost.  It  is  certain  that  a  custom  existed 
of  collecting  popular  ballads  for  purposes  of 
government  records.  Many  of  the  ancient  ballads 
are  very  beautiful  and  simple,  besides  being 
perfectly  comprehensible  to  the  modern  ear.  We 
may  therefore  assume  that  Confucius  possessed 
genuine  bardic  feeling.  His  treatment  of  women 
was  rather  contemptuous,  and  he  says  almost 
nothing  about  marriage ;  but  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  all  Chinese  serious  writtings  are 
scrupulously  decent  and  reserved  in  their  specific 
allusions  to  feminine  matters ;  even  empresses 
"hearken  to  government  from  behind  a  jalousie." 
His  love  for  truth  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
occasionally  tempered  by  prudence.  His  fondness 
for  forms,  ceremonies,  and,  above  all,  for  funerals 
and  mourning  is  not  at  all  in  our  line.  But  here, 
again,  a  due  show  of  grief  at  the  loss  of  a  parent 
only  forms  a  continuous  chain  with  the  filial 
obedience  required  during  life,  and  with  the 
solemn  sacrifices  after  death.  In  short,  we  can 
only  account  for  the  unmeasured  reverence  which 
Confucius  has  secured  in  the  hearts  of  his  country- 
men by  slightly  modifying  the  celebrated  words 
"every  country  possesses  the  government  it 
deserves,"  and  by  suggesting  that  China  possesses 
the  teacher  she  deserves ;  or,  to  put  the  matter 
into  a  more  subjective  light,  by  suggesting  that, 
when  a  great  teacher  or  prophet  appears,  the 
mere  fact  that  he  is  recognised  as  a  prophet  or  as 
an  instrument  of  Heaven  connotes  the  circumstance 


III.]  A   CATHOLIC'S   VIEW  65 

that  he  is  suitable  to  the  people  who  believe  in 
him  and  recognise  him.  Moreover,  Confucius' 
reverence  for  the  divinity  that  doth  hedge  a  king 
in  due  course  brought  all  kingly  influence  on  his 
side.  If  we  have  a  difficulty  in  appreciating 
Confucianism  to  the  full,  the  Chinese  have  a 
similar  difficulty  with  our  beliefs,  which  often 
appear  to  them  somewhat  absurd.  An  able 
Chinese  Catholic  who  a  few  years  ago  published 
a  very  learned  critical  work  upon  comparative 
religions,  thus  sums  up  in  his  native  tongue  the 
attributes  of  Confucius :  "  Although  Confucius 
taught  the  necessity  of  reverence  and  disinterested 
charity,  he  had  no  true  belief  in  a  self-existing 
Creator  of  an  organised  universe ;  no  faith  in 
promised  grace  to  come,  or  in  eternal  life ;  no 
true  love  of  God  as  a  Perfect  Being  above  and 
superior  to  all  things ;  no  true  fear  of  God  as  the 
Supreme  and  Sole  Ruler  of  the  universe  ;  and  no 
true  obedience  to  His  commandments."  Can  those 
who  blame  Confucius  for  not  believing  all  this 
show  any  grounds  why  at  that  date  he  should 
have  believed  it ;  and  are  they  sure  what  they 
mean  when  they  say  they  believe  it  themselves  ? 
Others  again  have  charged  Confucius  with  cold- 
blooded eud£emonism,  that  is,  with  only  insisting 
upon  virtue  because  it  leads  to  temporal  happiness. 
What  Confucius  said  was :  "He  who  heaps  up 
goodness  shall  have  much  happiness,"  and  vice 
versa.  There  is  nothing  very  terrible  in  this ; 
but  it   is   evident  that  argument   upon  so  abstract 


66  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

a  point  might  last  for  ever.  He  declined  to  pray 
for  recovery  when  he  was  sick,  but  he  did  this 
in  such  a  dubious  way  that  the  commentators  and 
the  missionaries  have  not  yet  come  to  an  under- 
standing upon  what  he  really  thought  on  the 
subject  of  prayer.  In  the  absence  of  Buddhist 
or  Christian  revelation  to  serve  him  as  a  guide  to 
belief  in  the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments, 
Confucius  did  the  next  best  and  noblest  thing,  by 
maintaining  the  impartiality  of  moral  retribution 
and  the  immortality  of  good  fame.  In  this  view 
he  seems  to  have   been  anticipated  by   Laocius. 

Confucius'  own  reigning  duke  set  up  a  great 
lamentation  for  him  when  he  died  in  B.C.  479,  and 
it  is  (somewhat  doubtfully)  said  erected  a  temple 
to  his  memory  for  quarterly  sacrifices  of  a  bullock  ; 
but  no  word  of  panegyric  beyond  the  bald 
expression  "Father  Ni "  was  conferred  upon  his 
memory, — in  allusion  to  the  philosopher's  personal 
appellation  Chung-ni.  The  royal  or  imperial 
dynasty  took  no  notice  whatever  of  his  death. 
The  people  of  the  ducal  state,  who  came  from 
time  to  time  to  pay  their  respects  to  his  memory, 
gradually  formed  a  village  round  the  tomb,  and 
such  relics  as  the  Sage's  hat,  clothes,  cart,  lute, 
and  books  were  preserved  in  what  seems  to  have 
been  the  shrine ;  or,  if  there  was  no  temple,  then 
in  a  museum  or  other  commemorative  building. 
Confucius  was  the  first  Chinese  historian  to  deal 
with  facts  in  contradistinction  to  exhortations, 
eulogia,    and    denunciations.       His     book    begins 


III.]  PHILOSOPHICAL   SCHOOLS  6j 

with  the  reign  of  the  fourteenth  duke  of  his  own 
petty  state,  in  B.C.  722,  and  continues  down  to 
the  second  year  before  his  death ;  he  obtained 
his  facts  from  the  state  records  of  the  central 
court,  possibly  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to 
Laocius  there.  After  his  death  began  the  great 
degringolade  which  it  had  been  the  great  common 
object  of  the  two  rival  philosophers  to  stave  off — 
the  so-called  "  Fighting  States  Period,"  lasting 
until  the  unification  of  the  Empire  under  one 
autocrat  in  B.C.  221.  Confucius'  last  (or  almost 
the  last)  words  were  :  "My  words  are  ignored,  and 
tao  has  no  vogue."  During  these  two  and  a 
half  centuries  of  fighting  and  intrigue,  only  one 
prince  found  time  to  patronise  literature,  which, 
however,  did  not  languish  in  the  two  states  of 
Lu  and  Ts'i,  forming  modern  Shan  Tung  province. 
During  all  this  time  Taoism  had  chief  possession 
of  men's  minds,  and  Confucianism  was  literally 
nowhere  with  its  "justice  and  benevolence,  rites, 
and  music."  But  Taoism  had  not  the  field 
exclusively  to  itself;  though  inter  arma  legis 
silent,  it  seems  as  though  in  all  ages  war 
stimulates  contentious  knowledge.  There  was 
the  school  of  simplicity,  socialism,  and  universal 
love,  the  head  of  which  was  a  Quixotic  Diogenes 
called  Meh-tsz  or  Meccius  (fifth  century  b.c.)  ; 
the  school  of  denominationalists,  or  pedantic 
adherents  to  the  letter  of  absolutely  defined 
principles ;  the  legists,  or  partisans  of  a  system 
of    repression    and    punishment    (on    the    Plehve- 


68  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

Pobyedonoschtschoff  basis) ;  the  astrologists,  or 
believers  in  occult  influences ;  the  medicals  or 
elixirists  ;  the  sensualists ;  and  many  others,  recall- 
ino-  to  our  minds  the  various  divisions  of  Greek 
philosophy  at  the  same  period.  When  the  King 
of  Ts'in  (a  state  which  had  held  aloof  from 
civilised  China  between  the  years  B.C.  874  and 
374)  at  last  forcibly  united  all  the  competing 
states,  he  found  the  multitude  of  counsellors  a 
serious  obstacle  to  his  new  project  of  centralisa- 
tion under  trained  functionaries,  and  in  the  year  B.C. 
213  he  was  persuaded  by  his  prime  minister  (a 
sort  of  creative  Bismarck)  to  destroy  all  objectionable 
literature  and  scholars.  Over  700  literary  men, 
comprising  most  of  the  known  savants  in  the 
empire,  were  invited  to  the  capital,  decoyed  to  a 
convenient  spot  "to  inspect  the  flowers,"  tumbled 
into  a  prepared  hole,  and  buried  alive.  The 
penalty  of  death  was  decreed  for  any  persons  who 
should  in  future  raise  discussions  as  to  the  meaning 
of  passages  in  the  "  Book  of  History"  and  the  "  Book 
of  Odes  "  as  revised  by  Confucius,  and  no  one  was 
allowed  even  to  possess  these  works,  except  those 
officially  dubbed  "scholars."  All  other  histories 
except  the  annals  of  Ts'in  were  burnt,  and  the 
world  was  directed  to  begin  afresh  with  the 
conqueror  as  innominate  "First  Emperor";  future 
emperors  to  be  equally  innominate  and  numbered. 
Works  on  medicine,  divination,  and  agriculture 
were  spared,  and  amongst  them  the  "  Book  of 
Changes "  :   that  the   Taoist  classic  fell  within  the 


rii.]  THE    LOVE    OF   GOD  69 

shadow  of  the  "  Book  of  Changes  "  is  almost  certain  ; 
for  the  First  Emperor  was  under  Taoist  influence, 
and  the  classic  never  needed  rediscovery  as  the 
classics  of  Confucius  did ;  it  was  never  lost.  It 
is  impossible  in  all  this  not  to  recall  to  mind  the 
new  era  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  the  burning 
by  Alexander  the  Great,  2200  years  before  that 
event,  of  all  the  Mazdean  books  except  those  on 
medicine  and  astrology. 

The  next  chapter  will  be  on  Buddhism  ;  but  it  is 
important  first  to  bear  well  in  mind  that,  up  to  2000 
years  ago  at  least,  the  Chinese  mind  had  never 
conceived  the  idea  of  religion,  as  superior  to,  and 
divested  from  human  affairs.  Such  spiritual  matter 
as  can  be  discerned  in  Laocius  and  Confucius  is 
indissolubly  connected  with  the  Universe  and  with 
Man :  miracles  are  never  so  much  as  hinted  at  ; 
after  life  is  scarcely  conceived  ;  the  idea  of  "  saving 
one's  self"  is  not  only  not  in  the  remotest  degree 
suggested,  but  is  indirectly  condemned  as  an 
unworthy,  a  selfish  preoccupation.  Sacrifice,  includ- 
ing sacrifice  in  the  highest  and  sublimest  sense  of 
self,  is  commended ;  and  devout  respect  for  the 
Unknown  takes  the  place  of  "  Love  of  God," — an 
emotional  passion  not  easily  presentable  by  available 
language  to  the  logical  Chinese  mind,  and  which 
is  apt  to  appear  to  them  much  in  the  same  light  as 
would  a  Reverence  for  the  Equator,  or  Adoration  of 
the  Sun, — the  last,  in  fact,  a  universal  Tartar  form 
of  religion.  As  to  the  vicissitudes  of  Confucianism, 
the    cult   has  never  at  any  period  been    dislodged 


70  CONFUCIANISM  [chap. 

from  its  privileged  position,  when  once  established 
at   the    beginning   of    our   era.      During   the    first 
century,  emperors  on  three  or  four  occasions  made 
personal  visits  to  the  Sage's  old  house,  in  order  to 
perform  sacrificial  worship;  in  a.d.  72  the  Emperor 
even  mounted   the  local   rostrum  and   delivered  a 
eulogistic  discourse.     The  lineal  descendants   then 
bore    the    hereditary  title  of  Marquess.     This  title 
was  confirmed  and   modified   on   several    occasions 
during  the  next  three  centuries,  the  founders  of  each 
dynasty  naturally  endeavouring  to  secure  their  own 
succession    to    the    imperial    dignity  by  associating 
themselves  with  the  oldest  and  most  revered  spiritual 
succession  in  China.     When  subsequently  the  empire 
was    divided   into    north    and   south   dynasties,    the 
Toba  Tartars  in  turn,  and  the  Sung,  Ts'i,   Liang, 
and  Ch'en  houses  of  Nanking,  all  took  opportunities 
to    facilitate   and   provide   for   Confucius'   sacrificial 
honours ;    by    this    time    the    hereditary    Marquess 
had  in  various  ways  been  assimilated  in  dignity  to 
a  prince  of  the  empire,  and  in  the  year  608  the  Sui 
dynasty,    which    had    reunited    China,    ordered    a 
report  on  the  family  to  be  prepared.      In  the  year 
739   the    T'ang    Emperor,    who    had    a    few  years 
previously  visited   the    mansion    in    person,   placed 
Confucius    on   a    "  south  -  facing  "    footing    (kingly 
status)  with  the  Duke  of  Chou,  his  ancient  imperial 
model ;  and  in  978  the  lineal  holders  of  the  heredi- 
tary title  were  exempted  for  ever  from  all  taxes  by 
the  first  Sung  monarch.     At  last,  in  the  year  1055, 
the  still  existing  ducal  title  of  Yen-sheng  Kung,  or 


III.]  RESPECT   FOR   CONFUCIUS  71 

"  Duke  of  Prolific  Holiness "  was  conferred,  and 
(with  the  exception  of  a  short  change  between  1086 
and  1 103)  this  distinction  has  been  held  ever  since 
without  a  break.  During  the  twelfth  century  the 
great  philosopher  Chu  Hi/  after  carefully  studying 
and  rejecting  both  Taoism  and  Buddhism,  placed 
the  critical  study  of  Confucius'  doctrine  on  a  new 
and  more  uniform  footing,  and  ever  since  then  the 
best  literary  men  of  China  have,  with  rare  exceptions, 
continued  to  abide  by  this  reformed  Confucianism 
as  the  sole  intellectual  training  worthy  of  a  patriot 
and  a  gentleman.  It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that 
throughout  the  Mongol  dynasty  (1206- 1368)  pure 
Chinese  held  a  social  and  political  position  inferior 
to  that  enjoyed  by  Mussulmans,  Ouigours,  and,  of 
course,  Mongols  :  it  followed,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
that  the  rough  and  gross  Tartar  rulers,  mostly 
bigoted  Buddhists  of  the  most  sensual  type,  who 
relied  on  pure  force  for  the  success  of  their  admini- 
stration, treated  Confucianism  with  a  certain  amount 
of  ignorant  contempt ;  but  for  political  reasons  the 
emperors  were  always  ready  notwithstanding  to 
sanction  the  succession  of  each  duke  as  his  turn 
came.  The  present  Manchu  dynasty,  like  its  pre- 
decessors of  the  Ming  family,  has  always  shown 
extreme  deference  to  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
the  K'unor  clan. 

o 

'  The  Chinese  philosopher  Wang  Yang-ming  (1472- 1528)  (pro- 
nounced in  Japanese  O  Yo-mei)  opposed  the  system  of  Chu  Hi  or 
Chu  Tsz  (Japanese  Shu  Shi).  This  is  interesting  in  view  of  Admiral 
Togo's  reported  "  Yo-mei "  proclivities.  This  last  philosophy  was 
thoroughly  explained  in  1892  before  the  Japan  As.  Sec.  by  Dr  G.  W. 
Knox. 


CHAPTER  IV 

BUDDHISM 

Results  of  the  Great  Chinese  Revolution. — Confucius  begins  to  be 
recognised.—  Religions  hitherto  viewed  as  "  crafts." — The  ground 
favourable  for  the  introduction  of  Buddhism. — Chinese  conquests 
cause  contact  with  the  Indo-Scythians  ;  various  foreign  notions 
about  religion  observed. — Rumours  concerning  Hindoo  culture. — 
An  Emperor's  dream  interpreted  to  mean  Buddha. — Mission  to 
India,  and  return  of  Hindoo  priests  with  books. — The  Indo- 
Scythians  first  told  the  Chinese  of  Baddhism. — A  Scythian  "idol" 
or  effigy  confused  with  Buddha,  —  How  the  Indo-Scythians 
received  Buddhism  from  the  Indus. —  Impossibility  of  Buddhism 
reaching  China  by  land  before  A.D.  i. — The  Emperor's  brother 
converted  ;  rivalry  of  Confucianism,  Taoism,  and  Buddhism  at 
Court. — Buddhism  discredited  for  a  century. — Taoism  begins  to 
borrow  from  Buddhism  in  order  to  compete  with  it. — More 
Buddhists  from  India,  Parthia,  and  the  Oxus. — More  siitras 
translated. — New  ideas  about  souls  and  future  existence  ;  and 
about  alphabets. — Sympathy  between  Chinese  and  Hindoo  ideas. 
—Some  slight  ground  for  ascribing  Buddhism  to  Laocius. — 
Celibacy  and  transmigration  of  souls  the  chief  novelty. — Ideas 
about  women  suit  the  Chinese. — Not  antagonistic  to  Taoism. — 
Definition  of  the  various  forms  of  Buddhism  that  found  favour  in 
and  around  China. — Distinction  between  the  higher  and  the 
popular  forms  of  one  and  the  same  religion. — Buddhists  by  the 
sea  route,  and  China  divided  into  three  empires. — Magadha  and 
South-west  China. — Adventurer  dynasties  under  Buddhist  spell. 
— Political  influence  in  North  China  of  Buddhochinga  and 
Kumaradjiva. — Travels  of  the  Chinese  pilgrim  Fah  Hien. — No 
persecution  in  China. — A  statesman's  comparison  with  Taoism. 
— Fifth  century  revival  of  Taoism. — First  persecutions. — Travels 
of  Sung  Yiin. — An  Emperor  assumes  the  cowl.— Vicissitudes  of 
Buddhism  and  Taoism. — China  once  more  united. — The  illustrious 

T'ang  dynasty. — Vicissitudes   of  Buddhism  during   the   various 
72 


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CHAP.  IV.]  A    ROMAN    PARALLEL  73 

Tartar  and  Chinese  dynasties  from  a.d.  960  to  now. — Chu  Hi's 
revivalism  and  Confucian  "  Orthodoxy." — Genghis  and  Kublai 
Khans. — Mongol  Buddhomania. 

The  great  Chinese  revolution  was  as  permanent 
in  its  effects  as  the  French  one  was  destined  to  be 
2000  years  subsequent  to  it,  but  the  first  imperial 
dynasty  vanished  as  quickly  as  Napoleon's  was  to 
do.  By  the  year  202  e.g.,  after  a  period  of 
unparalleled  bloodshed,  a  successful  soldier  of  genial 
practical  temperament  had  founded  the  celebrated 
dynasty  of  Han  upon  the  ill-digested  conquests  of 
Ts'in.  Far  from  being  a  patron  of  literature,  the 
new  emperor  took  a  pleasure  in  expressing  his 
contempt  for  learned  men.  But  meanwhile  the 
village  tomb  of  Confucius  had  enshrined  itself  in 
local  memory  ;  his  hat,  clothes,  cart,  lute,  and  books 
had  been  preserved;  and  in  the  year  195  e.g.  the 
monarch,  having  found  respite  from  his  warlike 
labours,  personally  paid  a  visit  to  the  grave,  sacri- 
ficing an  ox,  a  hog,  and  a  sheep — the  Roman 
suovetaurilia — to  his  memory.  Both  Taoism  and 
Confucianism  were  spoken  of  at  this  period  as 
shuk}  or  "  crafts  "  ;  some  of  the  Han  emperors  and 
princes  patronised  the  legists  ;  others  the  terrorists  ; 
but  most  of  them  the  Taoists.  It  was  not  until 
B.C.  49  that  the  Confucianists  obtained  favour  at 
Court ;    but     meanwhile     there     had     been    many 

*  Then,  as  now  in  Canton,  pronounced  sliut  or  zhut ;  the 
Japanese,  who  must  sibilate  final  /,  pronounce  it  dzhuts  or  djitsu. 
This  is  the  word  used  in  djii-djits  {jujiisu)  or  "  gentle  craft,"  the 
"painless  wrestling"  of  the  Japanese.  The  History,  Odes,  Rites, 
and  Music  classics  are  sometimes  styled  the  "  Four  Crafts." 


74  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

imperial   patrons    of    learning ;    search    had    been 
made   for  copies  of  missing  books ;  the  Confucian 
classics  had  been  as  far  as  possible  reconstituted  ; 
and    there    was    no    persecution  —  rather,    indeed, 
"  open  door "  to  all  opinions.      Thus   the   ground 
was  favourable  for  the  planting  of  Buddhist  seed. 
But    there    was    another    circumstance    which 
predisposed    the     Chinese     to     give     thought     to 
outlandish   spiritual    notions.       The    necessity    for 
expanding  and    protecting   extended    frontiers  had 
led  to  the   systematic  settlement  of   South   China 
(B.C.    138-135);   the   "cutting  off"    of  the  Tartars' 
right  arm  (b.c.    127-111);  the  conquests  of  South- 
west China  (b.c.  111-109) ;  and  that  of  Corea  (b.c. 
108).        The     western     expeditions     brought     the 
Chinese  into  contact  with  the  great  Indo-Scythian 
monarchy   of    the    Oxus    Valley,    then    gradually 
extending   itself  towards    the    Indus.     Apart    from 
growing    familiarity    with    Corean  —  and    through 
Corea    with    Japanese — notions    of   worship,    with 
the     superstitions     of     the     nomad     Tartars     and 
Tunsfuses,    and    with    the    customs    of    the    Tarim 
Valley,    the    Chinese    generals    and    commissaries 
had    begun  to    hear   strange    things    of   India  and 
its    mysterious    culture.      The   way   the    name    of 
Buddha  was  first  introduced   into   China  was    this 
wise :    Two    centuries    had  elapsed    since    the   era 
of  discovery    and    external    conquest   began  ;    the 
Han  dynasty  had  collapsed  and  been  reconstituted  ; 
and    Chinese    influence   was   once  more  beginning 
to   assert   itself  in    High    Asia  when,   one  day  in 


IV.]  A    DREAM    OF   BUDDHA  75 

A.D,  62,  the  Emperor  had  a  vision.  He  dreamt 
that  a  golden  man  with  a  bright  Hght  in  the  crown 
of  his  head  had  floated  through  the  air  into  the 
Palace.  A  courtier  who  heard  the  story  remarked 
that  "  it  must  be  Buddha,  a  divinity  in  Western 
parts."  This  observation  led  the  Emperor  to 
despatch  a  special  mission  to  India  ;  and,  after  two 
or  three  years'  absence,  this  mission  returned  safely 
with  a  huge  standing  image  of  Buddha,  and  forty- 
two  books,  or  chapters,  of  siltras.  Two  Hindoos, 
one  of  whom  was  named  Kas'yapa  Matanga, 
accompanied  the  mission  back,  apparently  by  way 
of  the  Cabul  Valley,  Yarkand,  Khoten,  and  Lop 
Nor  :  these  men,  on  arrival  in  China,  at  once  began 
the  study  of  the  language,  and  the  translation  of 
the  sUtras  thus  brought. 

The  fact  that  a  courtier  was  able  to  suggest  the 
solution  "  Buddha "  is  of  itself  strong-  evidence  in 
favour  of  the  supposition  that  "people  had  been 
talking "  about  the  new  religion  for  some  time, 
just  as  a  few  English  students  have  for  a  generation 
back  been  discussing  Shinto  and  Bushido,  though 
the  London  press  have  only  mentioned  them 
seriously  since  the  Japanese  displayed  their  great 
patriotic  qualities  before  the  world.  But  there  is 
more  specific  evidence  than  that.  Fragments  of 
an  extinct  Chinese  history  published  about  a.d.  220, 
and  surviving  in  a  second  work  compiled  about 
A.D.  425,  make  it  quite  clear  that,  so  early  as  the 
year  B.C.  2,  the  King  of  the  Indo-Scythians  com- 
municated   to   a    Chinese    scholar   some    prophetic 


ye  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

words  from  a  Buddhist  sMra.  Nor  is  this  all ;  it 
is  explained  that  Buddha's  father  was  called 
S'uddho-dana,  and  his  mother  Maya;  the  country 
in  which  they  dwelt  seems  to  be  intended  for  K'ap'i 
— manifestly  Kapilavastu.  The  Indo- Scythian 
king  in  question  would,  if  we  judge  by  the  date, 
be  Kadphises  the  First ;  and  although  that  name  is 
unrecognisable  as  given  in  Chinese  dress,  the  two 
next  kings,  Kuzula- Kadphises  and  Oemo-Kadphises, 
will  fit  the  Chinese  names  fairly  well  so  far  as  the 
sounds  Kuzulu  and  Oemo  are  concerned ;  and  there 
is  a  distinct  statement  in  the  a.d.  425  compilation 
that  in  a.d.  229  the  Indo-Scythian  King  Vadeva 
(manifestly  one  of  the  Vasudevas)  accepted  a  title 
from  China.  Thus  we  are  enabled  to  say  with 
certainty  that  Buddhism  was  introduced  into  China 
by  the  land  route  which  was  followed  1200  years 
later  by  Marco  Polo  and  his  uncles.  During  the 
process  of  "turning  the  Tartars'  western  flank" 
in  B.C.  121,  the  victorious  Chinese  armies  had 
captured  a  golden  man  from  one  of  the  Scythian 
princes  then  ruling  over  a  state  corresponding  to 
Marco  Polo's  Erguiul.  This  "  gold  man "  had 
been  used  for  purposes  of  worship  by  the  nomads, 
and  for  that  reason  the  Emperor  had  directed  it 
to  be  placed  in  his  palace  amongst  the  effigies  of 
other  notables ;  incense  was  burnt  before  it,  and 
obeisance  made  ;  but  it  was  not  worshipped  with 
sacrifice.  These  facts  have  led  many  Europeans 
to  accept  a  suggestion,  retrospectively  made  1200 
years   ago   by   later    Chinese,    to    the    effect    that 


IV.]  MIGRATION    FROM    CHINA  jj 

Buddhism  had  long  made  its  way  to  the  frontiers 
of  China,  by  way  of  the  Scythians  or  Tartars, 
before  the  Chinese  themselves  admitted  it  towards 
the  beginning  of  our  Christian  era.  But  there  is 
evidence  in  a.d.  550  that  there  had  long  been  a 
Tartar  custom  of  casting  golden  images  of 
empresses  and  heirs-apparent,  who  were  acclaimed 
only  if  the  casting  operation  turned  out  success- 
fully. The  Indo-Scythians  whom  the  Chinese  first 
discovered  in  the  Jaxartes  region  in  B.C.  130  had 
been  driven  from  their  original  habitat  near 
Erguiul  (Liang  Chou)  seventy  years  earlier  by 
the  very  Scythians  (Hiung-nu)  whom  the  Chinese 
partly  conquered  in  B.C.  121.  By  the  time  the 
Indo-Scythians  (who  only  became  such  after  being 
Chino-Scythians)  had  gradually  worked  their  way 
over  the  Oxus,  displaced  the  Sacae,^  and  come 
into  contact  with  Parthia,  Cophene,  and  India,  all 
remnants  of  Greek  rule  had  disappeared  from 
Bactriana,  and  the  rude  Indo-Scythians  had  to 
choose  between  two  rival  civilisations, — between  the 
fire  religion  of  Persia  and  the  Buddhism  (mixed 
perhaps  with  Brahmanism  or  Sivaism)  of  India ; 
there  were  no  other  relig-ious  influences  at  hand. 
The  evidence  of  coins  found  shows  that  the  Indo- 
Scythian  kings — though  many  or  most  of  them 
were  converted  to,  or  partial  to,  Buddhism  by  the 

1  The  Chinese  call  the  indigenous  race  displaced  by  the  Indo- 
Scyths,  by  the  name  Sdk,  and  everything  available  in  the  way  of 
evidence  points  to  these  being  the  Greek  writers'  Sacae  of  the 
Sacasthene  region,  now  called  Seistan.  There  is  not  the  faintest 
trace  in  Chinese  history  of  any  white,  or  Greek,  race  of  rulers. 


78  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

time  they  had  conquered  Cophene  and  reached 
the  Indus — still  tolerated  the  Persian  religions,  for 
they  are  represented  on  those  coins  as  sacrificing 
upon  the  fire  altar,  with  an  effigy,  however,  of 
Siva  and  his  cow  on  the  other  side.  It  is  there- 
fore unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  current  of 
migration  which  sped  from  China  towards  the 
West  could  have  borne  eastwards  in  B.C.  121  a 
religion  which  the  said  westward  current  had  itself 
yet  to  hear  of  by  crossing  the  Oxus,  and  could 
therefore  not  have  become  sufficiently  setded  to 
consider,  not  to  say  propagate,  until  close  upon  the 
commencement  of  the  Christian  era. 

No  sooner  had  Buddhism  officially  reached 
China  in  a.d.  67  than  the  Emperor's  brother 
became  a  "  pervert " ;  in  his  younger  days  the 
prince  had  been  a  viveur,  but  now  he  gave  himself 
up  to  Taoist  and  Buddhist  exercises.  It  was  in 
A.D.  I  that  the  Chinese  Emperor  had  first  erected 
a  temple  for  sacrifice  to  the  joint  manes  of  Confucius 
and  the  Duke  of  Chou — the  founder  of  the  dynasty 
and  ethical  system  which  Confucius  delighted  to 
honour.  This  perversion  of  a  later  emperor's  brother 
from  orthodoxy  would  not  have  mattered  much  had 
not  the  prince  combined  his  heterodoxy  with  treason. 
The  ultimate  result  was  the  suicide  of  the  prince, 
and  the  consequent  discrediting  of  Buddhism  at 
the  very  outset :  and  nothing  more  was  heard  of 
it  for  nearly  a  century.  In  the  year  147  an 
emperor  came  to  the  throne  who  was  very  fond 
of   music,    and    had    also    a    great    liking    for    the 


IV.]  SPREAD   OF   BUDDHISM  79 

mysteries  of  Taoism  and  Buddhism.  In  order  to 
compete  with  Buddhism,  Taoism  (which  from  a 
Chinese  point  of  view  resembled  Buddhism  in 
many  points,  such  as  its  democratic  spirit,  its 
humility,  contempt  of  riches,  its  tranquillity,  and 
self-sacrifice)  had  gradually  degenerated  more  and 
more  from  the  severe  old  model,  and  had  had  to 
reconstitute  itself  in  popular  form  under  the  first 
of  the  Taoist  "  Popes,"  who  have  continued  in 
an  unbroken  line  down  to  this  day.  During  the 
second  part  of  the  second  century,  more  Buddhist 
missionaries  came  from  Parthia,  Indo  -  Scythia, 
and  India;  but  there  could  not  have  been  very 
many  of  them,  for  we  find  a  Chinese  statesman 
explaining  to  the  Emperor  that  the  principles  of 
Buddha,  like  those  of  Laocius,  inculcated  the 
sparing  of  life,  the  extinction  of  passion  and 
extravagance.  If  there  had  been  many,  such 
explanations  would  have  been  quite  unnecessary. 
More  sUtras  were  translated ;  that  of  the  Nirvana 
being  particularly  good,  A  magnificent  Buddhist 
monastery  was  constructed  at  the  (modern)  Yang- 
chou  Fu  (where  Marco  Polo  was  Governor,  opposite 
the  present  treaty  port  of  Chinkiang) ;  services  were 
regularly  held  there,  and  over  5000  families  were 
converted. 

The  arrival  in  China  of  a  new  intellectual  system 
from  abroad,  and  the  suggestion  of  transmigration 
of  souls  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of  retribu- 
tion, of  course  awakened  new  activities  in  the 
Chinese   mind ;    and    these    activities    extended    to 


8o  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

the  field  of  etymology ;  for  until  the  advent  of 
the  Hindoo  alphabet  no  native  scholar  had  been 
able  to  classify  sounds,  initials,  and  finals  on  a 
system  intelligible  from  our  Western  point  of 
view.  The  meagre  story  of  Buddha's  life,  no  fuller 
than  that  of  Laocius,  and  infinitely  less  inform- 
ing than  that  of  Confucius,  was  not  particularly 
impressive.  Like  their  own  philosophers,  he  was 
represented  to  the  Chinese  as  being  a  reformer  and 
transmitter ;  being  of  the  royal  house  of  Kapilavastu, 
and  a  repentant  man  of  pleasure,  he  would  be  a 
congenial  and  respectable  model  for  the  Emperor's 
brother,  who  eagerly  took  up  the  new  ideas,  and 
had  already  endeavoured  to  find  peace  for  his  mind 
in  Taoist  austerity.  Laocius  and  Confucius  took 
over,  transmitted,  and  reformed  from  the  "  Book  of 
Changes "  ;  from  the  notion  of  the  Trinity  of 
Heaven,  Earth,  and  Man  ;  and  from  the  yin  and 
yang  (male  and  female,  light  and  shade)  theory. 
Buddha  did  the  same  with  Brahmanism,  in  which 
Brahma  was  the  first  of  a  Trinity,  and  (as  the 
translated  Saddharma  Pundarika  siltra  expresses 
it  in  clear  and  simple  Chinese)  "the  father  of  all 
living  things."  The  body  was  divided  into  the 
visible,  material,  and  perishable,  and  the  invisible, 
spiritual,  and  immortal,  which,  of  course,  tallies 
almost  exactly  with  the  division  of  all  Nature  into 
yin  and  yang.  Buddha  had  shaken  himself  free 
of  all  sectarian  doctrines  and  caste  distinctions ; 
proclaimed  the  insignificance  and  vanity  of  wealth 
and  pleasure ;    and  deified  humanity  by  absorbing 


IV.]  WAS    LAOCIUS    BUDDHA?  8i 

it  into  Nirvana.  All  this  is  the  purest  of  Taoism, 
as  will  easily  be  seen  by  glancing-  over  the 
original  classic  given  in  the  Appendix.  No  wonder 
the  story  began  to  find  favour  which  related  that 
Laocius,  after  disappearing  from  China,  had  con- 
verted the  Hu  (  =  Tartars,  Persians,  Hindoos),  and 
had  worked  his  way  through  Khoten  into  India, 
there  engendering  Buddhism.  Absurd  though  we 
may  think  this  story,  the  dates,  so  far  as  they  are 
known,  do  not  at  all  stand  in  the  way  of  our  believing 
it ;  the  Chinese  early  in  the  seventh  century  made 
their  first  acquaintance  with  India  via  Nepaul  and 
Tibet,  and  it  is  only  within  the  past  few  years 
that  Nepaul  has  been  absolutely  proved  to  have 
been  the  birthplace  of  Buddha.  Those  who  with- 
out any  evidence  are  eager  to  derive  Laocius' 
inspira;;ion  from  the  West,  must  therefore  admit 
that  there  is  some  possibility,  though  perhaps  no 
relevant  evidence,  of  Laocius  having  taken  his 
own  original  ideas  to  the  West.  But,  to  return  to 
Buddha,  celibacy  and  the  transmigration  of  souls, 
according  to  good  or  evil  works,  were  prominent 
among  the  new  ideas  preached.  Continence  had 
never  been  so  much  as  mentioned  as  a  Chinese 
virtue  ;  still  less  abstinence.  Transmigration  rather 
impinged  upon  the  accepted  doctrine  of  ancestral 
continuity,  and  at  once  roused  orthodox  hostility. 
On  the  other  hand,  Buddha's  doctrine  that  woman's 
highest  ambition  should  be  for  her  soul  to  reappear 
in  a  man,  quite  accorded  with  the  old  Chinese  view 
that  woman  was  a  mere  function,  and  must  belong 


82  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

to,  or  "  follow,"  either  father,  husband,  or  son ; 
her  only  independent  chance  of  salvation  being, 
according  to  the  Buddhists,  to  become  a  nun,  or 
at  least  a  sister  of  charity.  Even  Buddha's 
"miracles,"  which  are  the  least  respectable  portion 
of  his  teaching,  and  were  apparently  designed  to 
prove  that  natural  laws  will  yield  to  strong  spiritual 
force,  were  not  quite  new  to  pure  Taoism,  which 
in  a  way  may  be  said  to  have  taught  that  mind 
is  independent  of  matter.  Later  Taoism  was  even 
more  sympathetic  towards  miracles. 

From   the  outset  the  Chinese   have   not  made 
much   use  of  the  word    Gautama   in   speaking   of 
the  founder  of  Buddhism  ;   they  have  preferred  the 
name     S'akyamuni,    often     contracted    to    S'akya ; 
whence   an    erroneous    idea  grew  up    towards   the 
seventh  century  that  the  Kapilavastu  royal  family- 
name  of  S'akya  was  connected  with  the  name  Sak, 
applied  to  the  Sacae  princes  of  the  Cabul  Valley. 
The  sandal- wood  statue  brought  to   China  in  a.d. 
67   not  unnaturally  received  the  same  honour  that 
had  already  been   bestowed  in   B.C.   121    upon   the 
captured  Scythian  image,  and  which  for  ages  the 
Chinese    had    paid    to    the    images    of   their    own 
ancestors ;     the     step    onwards    to     more    general 
"  idolatry  "  was  not  far,  in  China  as  had  been  the 
case    in   India.      In  addition   to  this,   Buddha,   like 
Laocius,  having  evolved  a  new  cult  out  of  already 
existing  beliefs,   had   barely  time   to   lay  the   firm 
foundation    of    his    craft    before    zealous    disciples 
introduced   changes   never   at  all   contemplated   by 


IV.]  FORMS   OF   BUDDHISM  83 

the  founder,  who  strained  every  effort  to  substitute 
atheism  (in  its  harmless  and  natural  meaning),  and 
virtue,  for  the  Brahmanic  pantheism  and  S'ivaic 
immorality,  excluding  metaphysics  in  favour  of 
ethics.  The  three  "  means  of  salvation,"  or  of  "  con- 
veyance across  the  river  of  life  to  Nirvana"  were 
soon  corrupted  to  mean  the  three  phases  through 
which  the  Buddhist  teaching  passed.  The  more 
primitive  Hinayana,  or  "  Lesser  Conveyance,"  with 
its  asceticism,  atheism,  and  transmigration  of  souls, 
never  found  more  than  local  favour  in  active 
China,  being  more  suited  to  the  temperaments  of 
Ceylon  and  Burma.  Besides,  its  stitras  were  in- 
consecutively  translated,  and  thus  to  a  consider- 
able degree  incomprehensible.  The  Mahayana,  or 
"  Greater  Conveyance,"  founded  by  Nagardjuna, 
took  firm  root  in  the  Cophene  region,  and  more 
especially  in  Tchakuka  (Yarkand),  whence  its 
passage  via  Khoten  and  the  Tarim  Valley  to 
Lop  Nor  and  China.  The  transcendental  specula- 
tions of  this  system  are  often  almost  indistinguishable 
from  the  abstractions  of  Laocius,  whilst  the  quietism 
and  meditation  which  it  substitutes  for  the  physical 
asceticism  of  the  southern  school,  renders  it  more 
acceptable  to  the  practical  Chinese,  who  are  by  no 
means  minded  to  starve  on  their  road  to  salvation. 
Finally,  there  was  the  Yoga  school,  otherwise  called 
the  Tantra  school,  founded  by  Asamgha  of  Gandhara 
in  the  fourth  century,  a  mixture  of  Nepaulese  Dhyana, 
or  contemplation  philosophy,  mixed  up  with  hetero- 
geneous   S'ivaic   ideas,    and    chiefly   acceptable    to 


84  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

the  bucolic  mental  capacity  of  the  Tibetans, 
Mongols,  and  early  Siamese, — i.e.  the  Tai  or  Shan 
race,  before  they  left  Yiin  Nan  for  the  Menam 
Valley,  and  imbibed  the  higher  Burmese  notions 
of  Buddhistic  religion. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  define  all  the  multifarious 
forms  of  Buddhism  which  obtained  vogue  in  China. 
We  must  draw  a  distinction  between  the  elevated 
abstractions  congenial  to  the  cultured  classes,  and 
the  gross  animalism  and  imagery  alone  capable  of 
captivating  the  masses.  The  distinction  between 
"Butler's  Analogy"  with  the  criticisms  thereof 
made  by  Gladstone's  massive  intellect  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  various  forms  of  noisy  revivalism  on 
the  other,  is  not  greater  than  the  distinction  between 
deep  -  thinking  Chinese  Buddhism,  and  the  vulgar 
clap-trap  which  often  came  locally  into  vogue,  not 
unnaturally  exciting  the  contempt  and  indignation 
of  the  Confucianists.  In  fact,  side  by  side  with 
the  ancient  spiritual  cult  Taoism,  and  even  in  a 
measure  side  by  side  with  Confucianism,  there  has 
always  existed  a  backwash  of  popular  superstition. 
The  history  of  this  belongs,  as  already  suggested, 
rather  to  the  domain  of  folk-lore  than  to  that  of 
serious  thought ;  it  is  therefore  unnecessary  to  do 
no  more  than  barely  allude  to  it. 

Roman  and  Indian  trade  with  Canton  and  the 
Irrawaddy  Valley  is  recorded  during  the  second 
century ;  the  Hindoo  trading  colonies  of  Indo- 
China  brought  their  religions  with  them,  and  a 
second  stream    of   priests    thus    reached   China    by 


IV.]  MONASTERIES    IN    CHINA  85 

sea.  The  ruins  of  Angkor  and  Ciampa  still  attest 
the  Buddhist  zeal  of  the  Indo-China  of  those  days. 
In  the  year  221  the  second  Han  dynasty  collapsed, 
and  three  rival  Chinese  empires  ruled  for  half  a 
century.  The  founder  of  the  southern  (capital 
at  modern  Nanking)  was  personally  a  strong 
Buddhist ;  the  founder  of  the  northern  was  the 
first  to  allow  Chinese  to  shave  the  head  and 
become  "  Buddhas "  (the  earliest  native  word  for 
"priests");  the  old  White  Horse  Office  in  which 
the  first  load  of  sfitras  had  been  deposited  in  a.d. 
67  was  now  a  permanent  monastery,  but  rebuilt 
in  Hindoo  style,  and  the  word  "  office  "  had  become 
the  adopted  word  for  samgha,  or  "  monastic 
assemblies,"  in  general.  The  western  empire  was 
in  immediate  contact  with  Burma  and  the  Shan 
kingdom  of  Yiin  Nan,  whose  history  shows  close 
but  ill-defined  religious  connection  with  Magadha 
(Patna).  Towards  the  end  of  the  third  century 
China  was  reunited  under  the  Tsin  dynasty  ;  but 
meanwhile  these  internal  wars  and  changes  of 
dynasty  had  given  the  various  Tartar  nomads  a 
good  chance,  and  for  the  next  hundred  years  the 
whole  of  the  north,  from  Tibet  to  Corea,  was  in 
the  hands  of  competing  foreign  adventurers,  all 
of  them  more  or  less  deeply  under  the  spell  of 
Buddhism.  Besides  the  White  Horse,  there  were 
over  forty  "Buddhas"  (pagodas  or  monasteries) 
in  the  older  capital  of  reunited  China  ;  and  priests, 
(some  of  them  sent  back  from  China  more  than 
once)  kept  arriving  with    s'CUras   for    translation  at 


86  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

the  new  metropolis  (modern  Chang-teh  Fu).  They 
came  from  Khoten,  Samarcand,  India,  Cophene, 
Indo-Scythia ;  and  now  we  notice  a  curious 
custom  of  taking  the  names  (or  part)  of  those 
countries  as  family  names  for  the  new  arrivals  : 
on  the  other  hand,  as  Chinese  priests  had  to  leave 
the  family  on  taking  orders,  the  word  sdnigha 
(Seng)  was  adopted  as  a  patronymic  for  all  native 
bonzes,  and  remains  so  to  this  day.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  fourth  century  the  Chinese  or  Tsin 
emperors  had  to  cross  the  Yangtsze  ;  several  of 
them  were  strong  Buddhists,  and  a  prominent 
statesman  felt  bound  to  remonstrate  when  a 
vihdra,  or  private  chapel,  with  a  staff  of  priests, 
was  erected  inside  the  palace.  The  last  of  the 
dynasty  (a.d.  419)  escorted  on  foot  a  golden  image 
of  Buddha,  constructed  under  his  own  supervision, 
three  miles  to  its  resting-place  in  a  monastery. 
A  statesman,  relative  of  the  empress,  incurred 
great  unpopularity  by  constructing  gorgeous 
monasteries  with  forced  labour ;  this  led  to  his 
execution,  and  it  is  recorded  that  he  chanted 
siilras  up  to  the  foot  of  the  scaffold.  The  first 
Buddhist  nuns  came  to  China  from  Ceylon  in 
A.D.  425. 

An  enthusiastic  Chinese  priest  from  (modern) 
Cheh  Kiang  province  had  obtained  a  very  warm 
welcome  during  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  century 
at  the  court  of  one  of  the  Hiuncr-nu  adventurer 
"emperors"  ruling  in  North  China,  and  did  his 
best  to  elucidate  the  true   meaning  of  the  Vimala 


IV.]  HINDOOS    INFLUENXE   TARTARS  87 

and  Saddharma  stttras,  which  the  western  bonzes 
had  as  yet  only  imperfectly  translated ;  this  dis- 
tinguished Chinese  Buddhist,  whose  name  was 
Wei  Tao-an,  sent  disciples  to  Yang-chou  Fu,  and 
also  into  far-off  Sz  Ch'wan  ;  he  himself  ultimately 
found  his  way  to  the  court  of  the  Tibetan 
"emperor"  reigning  at  (modern)  Si-an  Fu.  In 
his  earlier  days  he  had  formed  a  friendship  with 
the  Indian  sramana  Buddhochinga,  who  had  taken 
orders  in  Udjana  (Swat),  and  been  in  the  service 
of  an  earlier  Hiung-nu  "emperor"  of  North 
China ;  Buddhochinga  now  passed  into  the  later 
adventurer's  service.  One  of  the  barbarian 
monarch's  Chinese  advisers  said :  "  Buddha  is  a 
foreign  god,  and  not  of  the  kind  to  be  worshipped 
by  the  Son  of  Heaven ;  it  is  proposed  that  all 
high  officers  of  state  be  forbidden  to  burn  incense 
and  worship  at  the  temples ;  moreover,  it  is 
suggested  that  all  subjects  of  your  Majesty's 
dominions  who  may  have  become  sramana  be 
ordered  to  unfrock."  The  Tartar  issued  the 
following  decree  : — 

"  I  am  myself  of  outlandish  origin,  and  having 
now  become  autocrat  of  all  the  Chinas,  may  well 
be  permitted  to  follow  my  own  customs  in  matters 
of  religion.  I  hereby  authorise  all  persons,  be 
they  barbarians  or  born  on  the  spot,  to  worship 
Buddha  if  they  choose." 

Another  celebrated  Hindoo  Buddhist  was 
Kumaradjiva,  whose  father  hailed  from  Taxila, 
but  who  was  himself  born  of  a  Tartar  mother  at 


88  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

Kuche,  and  had  spent  his  youth  in  Kashgar.  His 
"  Chinese  "  service  was  chiefly  among  the  Tibetan 
'*  emperors "  of  the  Si-an  Fu  and  Liang  Chou 
regions.  He  was  a  correspondent  of  Wei  Tao-an, 
but  never  himself  visited  Si-an  Fu  until  the  year  401. 
The  world-famed  pilgrim,  Fah  Hien,  whose  travels 
Dr  Legge  has  translated  for  us,  set  out  from  the 
court  of  this  Tibetan  ruler  in  the  year  399,  and 
made  a  complete  round  of  the  Buddhist  countries 
of  High  Asia.  After  visiting  "  Erguiul,"  Lop 
Nor,  Khoten,  Tashkurgan,  Kashmir,  Cophene, 
Udjana,  the  Indo-Scythian  capital  of  Gandhara, 
Taxila,  Peshawur,  Canouge,  S'ravasti,  Buddha's 
birthplace  in  Kapilavastu,  Patna,  Ciampa  (which 
doubtless  gives  the  name  to  the  Indo  -  Chinese 
Ciampa),  and  Tamalipti  (Tamlook),  he  took  ship 
for  Ceylon,  whence  by  sea  to  Java — failing  to 
make  Canton — direct  to  the  modern  German  settle- 
ment of  Kiao  Chou  in  Shan  Tung.  Thus  the 
whole  Buddhist  and  Indian  mystery  was  cleared 
up,  and,  apart  from  China,  where  Taoism  and 
Confucianism  still  held  the  intellectual  fort,  all 
High  Asia  was  found  to  be  Buddhist.  Moreover, 
the  faith  had  now  been  carried  to  Corea,  and 
thence  to  Japan. 

Up  to  this  time  there  had  been  little  trace  of 
religious  persecution  in  any  part  of  China.  The 
claims  of  the  rival  cults  had  usually  been  weighed 
in  a  philosophic  spirit.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
views  of  the  distinguished  southern  statesman,  Ku 
Hwan,  who,  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifth  century. 


iv.J  COMPARISON    WITH    TAOISM  89 

served  the  Sung  and  Ts'i  dynasties  (Nanking)  just 
when  the  Toba  Tartars  (a  kind  of  Mongol),  having 
destroyed  or  subdued  the  conflicting  Tibetan  and 
normal  elements,  had  firmly  settled  themselves  on 
the  throne  of  North  China.  His  biography  says  that 
he  was  fond  of  the  Hwang  Ti  and  Laocius  doctrines, 
and  also  versed  in  the  yin-yang  philosophy.  He 
wrote  a  work  entitled  "  The  Question  of  Barbarian 
or  Chinese,"  in  which  is  repeated,  but  not  very 
seriously,  the  tradition  of  Laocius  finding  his  way 
to  India,  and  himself  suggesting  Buddhism.  He 
says :  "  whilst  Taoism  is  simple,  concise,  obscure, 
and  repellent  to  all  but  the  highly  cultured, 
Buddhism  is  ornate,  prolix,  gushing,  and  seductive 
to  the  ignorant  classes.  Whilst  Taoism  and  Con- 
fucianism  concern  themselves  with  social  conditions, 
in  Buddhism  one  leaves  aside  the  natural  social 
ties  altogether,  and  shaves  the  head.  Taoism  is 
purely  Chinese,  and  not  at  all  suited  to  the 
barbarian  mind ;  Buddhism  is  foreign,  and  runs 
counter  to  many  Chinese  principles." 

Here  he  makes  a  further  remark  of  importance, 
considering  that  it  was  written  before  the  end 
of  the  fifth  century,  and  in  view  of  foreign 
attempts  to  shift  dates  further  back  : 

"Taoism  we  have  had  with  us  over  800  years, 
for  it  developed  when  the  Chou  dynasty  split  up 
into  East  and  West  (b.c.  425),  whereas  Buddhism 
began  with  the  Eastern  Han  dynasty  (a.d.  25-220). 

Just  at  this  time  the  Toba  Emperor  in  the 
north    (the    dynasty    had    now    abandoned    Tartar 


90  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

ways  and  become  quite  Chinese)  was  encouraging 
Taoism,  which  now  underwent  its  first  serious 
revival  under  its  modified  or  religious  form.  One 
K'ou  K'ien-chi  (of  the  south)  professed  to  have 
received  the  Taoist  commandments  from  the  Spirit 
Above  through  an  angel  or  supernatural  descendant 
of  Laocius  ;  moreover,  he  was  an  ardent  hater  of 
Buddhism,  and  even  claimed  for  himself  the 
spiritual  succession  as  Taoist  "  Pope."  A  dis- 
tinguished Chinese  statesman  and  antiquarian 
named  Ts'ui  Hao,  who  expressed  his  contempt 
even  for  the  "  mischievous  unnatural  twaddle " 
of  the  comparatively  pure  Sancius  form  of  Taoism, 
endeavoured  to  dissuade  the  monarch  from  erecting 
a  "worshipping  area"  suitable  for  the  later  and 
more  corrupt  ceremonies ;  he  still  more  strongly 
objected  to  Buddhism,  asking :  "  Why  should  we 
worship  this  Tartar  god  ? "  The  very  name  of 
the  reign  of  this  emperor  (corresponding  to  440- 
451)  was  taken  from  the  new  "commandments." 
Later  on,  however,  he  was  induced  to  encourage 
Confucianism,  and  he  issued  an  edict  forbidding 
the  wealthy,  under  pain  of  death,  from  keep- 
ing either  private  sramana  or  private  Taoist 
"wizards"  on  their  premises.  In  446,  his  active 
minister  having  proved  to  him  that  Buddhist 
temples  had  become  houses  of  debauchery, 
the  Emperor  ordered  a  massacre  of  all  sramana 
in  his  dominions,  and  the  burning  of  all  Hu 
or  "Tartar"  (here  meaning  Sanskrit,  Pali,  and 
Kharoshthi)   books    and    Buddhist    images.       The 


IV.]  BUDDHOMANIA  91 

heir-apparent,  however,  was  still  a  believer,  and 
with  his  connivance  most  of  the  priests,  books, 
and  images  evaded  destruction.  Ts'ui  Hao  was 
himself  executed  in  450  for  having  disclosed  in  a 
history  (at  once  destroyed)  too  much  of  the 
barbarous  origin  of  the  Tobas.  Another  Toba 
emperor,  great-grandson  of  the  above,  abdicated 
in  471  in  order  to  give  his  mind  to  the  studies 
of  Buddhism  and  Hwang- Lao.  Meanwhile  the 
ephemeral  southern  dynasties  of  Sung,  Ts'i,  and 
Liang  were  becoming  more  and  more  intensely 
Buddhist,  and  priests  from  South  India  had  a 
hospitably  warm  reception  at  the  Nanking  court. 
In  499  the  new  Toba  emperor  turned  to  Buddhism 
once  more;  there  were  13,000  monasteries  in  his 
dominions,  and  3000  western  bonzes  in  his  capital 
alone  (modern  Ho-nan  Fu).  The  Empress,  his 
wife,  despatched  the  celebrated  envoy  Sung  YUn 
to  the  Cabul  Valley  In  order  to  secure  more  sutras : 
he  went  over  much  of  Fah  Hien's  old  ground,  but 
did  not  cross  the  Indus  ;  at  (modern)  Wakhan, 
Kapl9a,  Chitral,  Peshawur,  etc.,  he  found  the 
Indo-Scythians  ruling  under  the  new  name  of 
Eptal.  The  founder  (502  -  549)  of  the  Liang 
dynasty  in  the  south  was  a  very  learned  man, 
but  a  Buddhist  bigot.  He  caused  a  tremendous 
commotion  among  the  Confucianists  by  prohibit- 
ing the  ancient  sacrifices  of  animals  and  flesh, 
substituting  vegetables,  "  because  it  was  cruel  to 
take  life."  He  himself  surrendered  his  person  to 
the   disciplines  ;   besides    being   a   strict  vegetarian 


92  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

at  all  times  and  a  regular  faster,  he  even  abandoned 
the  imperial  robes  in  favour  of  a  priestly  cowl, 
mounting  the  pulpit  and  expounding  the  Nirvana 
Sutra  with  his  own  royal  voice.  "  His  ministers 
and  people  followed  him  like  an  avalanche  ;  they  cut 
their  bodies  and  allowed  the  blood  to  sprinkle  the 
ground,  or  even  used  the  blood  as  ink  for  copying 
the  sfitras.  The  sramana  used  to  hang  themselves 
up  by  iron  hooks,  keep  a  thousand  lamps  alight, 
and  sit  a  whole  day  and  night  rigid  and  motionless. 
From  ancient  times  Buddha  had  never  before  been 
worshipped  with  such  absolute  devotion."  The 
founder  (557-559)  of  the  Ch'en  dynasty  which 
succeeded  the  Liang  at  Nanking  also  submitted 
to  the  vows  ;  his  successors  surrendered  their 
persons,  and  the  last  monarch  actually  "sold 
himself  to  Buddha "  as  a  slave.  Meanwhile  the 
northern  empire  was  going  from  bad  to  worse  ; 
to  escape  conscription  the  people  became  nominal 
sramana ;  the  monasteries  and  religious  establish- 
ments ran  up  to  30,000,  and  by  the  year  530  there 
were  200,000  bonzes  and  nuns.  The  Hiung-nu 
tribe  newly  known  as  "Turk"  now  appeared  on 
the  scene  ;  the  northern  Chinese  empire  split  up 
in  two,  one  supported  by  the  Turks,  the  other  by 
the  nomad  Joujan  (Gibbon's  Geougen^)  from  whose 
suzerainty  the  Turks  had  rebelled,  destroying  the 
last  of  their  masters   in  the  year  556.     The  Joujan 

^  Gibbon,  following  the  lead  of  Deguignes,  identifies  these  with 
the  Avars,  and  Chavannes  has  also  accepted  this  interpretation,  which, 
however,  is  almost  impossible  from  every  point  of  view. 


IV.]  DEGRADATION    OF   RELIGION  93 

rulers  are  mentioned  as  being  subject  to  Buddhist 
influences  as  early  as  508,  the  Turkish  Khan  about 
575  ;  their  allies  of  North  China  were  both  deeply, 
if  fitfully,  Buddhistic;  in  574,  however,  the  Emperor 
of  the  western  one  (at  Si  -  an  Fu)  fixed  the 
precedency  of  Confucianism  over  Taoism,  and  of 
Taoism  over  Buddhism,  but  ended  by  "abolish- 
ing "  the  two  last — for  the  first  time  in  China's 
history ;  all  books  and  images  were  destroyed, 
and  all  bonzes  and  Taoist  priests  had  to  return 
to  lay  life.  After  conquering  his  eastern  rival 
in  577,  this  foolish  monarch  abdicated  in  579, 
celebrating  the  event  by  reintroducing  images  of 
Buddha  and  Laocius  ;  he  gave  a  grand  entertain- 
ment in  which  his  deified  self  sat  "facing  south" 
between  the  two  gods ;  thus  Laocius  had  at  last 
become  a  vulgar  "  idol "  instead  of  a  Spartan 
philosopher.  In  580  Buddhism  and  Taoism  were 
formally  reintroduced. 

In  581  the  remaining  northern  empire  was 
suppressed  by  one  of  its  Chinese  generals,  who 
founded  the  powerful  dynasty  of  Sui,  passing  on 
to  conquer  the  southern  empire  in  589,  and  thus 
to  reunite  all  China  once  more.  The  new  dynasty 
favoured  Buddhism  ;  any  one  was  permitted  to  take 
orders  ;  subscriptions  were  opened  for  books  and 
images  ;  bonzes,  nuns,  and  Taoist  priests  formed 
part  of  imperial  processions,  and  were  feasted  by 
the  Emperor.  But,  like  the  Ts'in  dynasty  which 
had  united  China  in  B.C.  221,  this  Sui  dynasty 
was  too  hasty  and  too  eager  to  endure  long.     The 


94  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

second  emperor,  a  sort  of  Chinese  Caligula,  had 
heard  through  the  Turks  of  the  Franks  and 
Corea ;  he  made  efforts  to  get  envoys  through  to 
the  Byzantine  empire  and  India  ;  sent  envoys  to 
Siam  (now  partly  in  the  Menam  Valley) ;  punished 
Corea  for  coquetting  with  the  Turks ;  and  kept 
himself  so  constantly  and  restlessly  under  the 
lime-light  of  publicity  that  his  discontented  courtiers 
at  last  got  rid  of  him,  making  way  for  the  great 
imperial  house  of  T'ang,  which  was  founded  upon 
the  ruins.  As  Mazdeism,  Manicheism,  Nestorianism, 
and  possibly  Islam,  all  put  in  religious  claims  shortly 
after  this,  it  will  be  more  convenient  to  trace 
the  further  vicissitudes  of  Buddhism  in  China 
under  these  separate  heads.  In  the  year  615 
there  were  over  100,000  bonzes  and  nuns  in  the 
Sui  empire. 

The  experiences  of  Buddhism  in  China  during 
the  300  years'  rule  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  (618-908) 
will  therefore  be  found  described  in  the  chapters 
on  Manicheism  and  Nestorianism,  which  two 
religions  were  to  a  certain  extent  confused  with, 
and,  in  a  measure,  shared  the  fate  of  Buddhism, 
of  which,  partly  with  Manichean  connivance,  they 
were  vaguely  considered  "outside"  or  schismatical 
forms.  During  the  half  century  which  elapsed 
before  (960)  the  Sung  dynasty  reunited  the  greater 
part  of  China,  the  whole  empire  was  split  up  into 
almost  as  many  ephemeral  dynasties  as  there  were 
provinces,  the  extreme  northern  part  being  mean- 
while   in    the    hands    of    the    Cathayan    Tartars. 


IV.]  DECAY   OF   BUDDHISM  95 

During  this  wretched  period  of  anarchy  some  of  the 
so-called  emperors,  whether  pure  Chinese  reigning 
in  the  south  and  west,  or  hybrid-Turkish  reigning 
in  Central  China,  were  Buddhomaniacs  ;  or  others, 
again,  discouraged  the  growth  of  monasteries : 
meanwhile  the  more  or  less  barbarous  Cathayans 
decreed  the  establishment  of  Confucian  temples, 
Buddhist  monasteries,  and  Taoist  shrines  imparti- 
ally ;  and,  like  the  Japanese  of  that  day,  adopted 
Chinese  religions  along  with  other  Chinese  culture  ; 
the  Emperor  who  died  in  1056  was  both  a  Taoist 
and  a  Buddhist  admirer ;  but  the  universal  war 
and  accompanying  misery  was  too  great  all  over 
China  to  permit  of  men's  minds  paying  much 
attention  to  spiritual  affairs  ;  religion  was  a  court 
luxury.  The  great  literary  dynasty  of  Sung 
(960-1260)  which  reigned,  first  south  of  the  Yellow 
River,  and  then  (1127)  south  of  the  Yangtsze 
River,  whilst  the  Cathayans,  Niichens,  and 
Mongols  successively  ruled  in  North  China,  seems 
to  have  been  perfectly  tolerant  to  all  religions, 
whilst  patronising  none.  Only  one  Sung  emperor 
(i  100- 1 126)  was  a  Buddhomaniac,  and  he  was 
carried  off  to  Manchuria  by  the  Nuchen  Tartars, 
who  also  conquered  the  Cathayan  empire  the  same 
year.  On  the  whole.  Buddhism  under  the  Sung 
family  seems  to  have  been  gently  discouraged,  but 
without  aggressive  energy,  or  any  thing  whatever 
in  the  shape  of  harshness  and  persecution.  Con- 
fucianism, on  the  other  hand,  reached  its  acme 
of     development.        The     philosopher      Chu      Hi 


96  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

(i  130-1200),  after  first,  during  his  youth,  studying 
with  ardour  the  doctrines  of  Buddhism  and  Taoism, 
at  last  abandoned  these  heterodox  systems  as  being 
valueless,  and  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  upon 
the  work  of  Confucian  exegesis,  which,  already 
for  a  century  back,  had  occupied  the  best  energies 
of  the  most  learned  and  statesmanlike  Chinese 
minds.  Paternal  government  and  social  order 
were  his  chosen  mottoes,  and  their  cardinal  points 
in  the  Confucian  doctrine  he  applied  to  all  the 
practical  administrative  questions  of  the  day. 
Naturally  this  purely  social  and  political  view  of 
Confucianism  was,  and  has  ever  since  been,  viewed 
with  extreme  favour  by  that  and  each  successive 
dynasty  ;  and  to  this  day  Confucianism,  as  inter- 
preted and  coloured  by  Chu  Hi,  is  as  much  the 
Orthodox  Church  of  China  as  the  Greek  Church, 
developed  under  Peter  the  Great's  direction  by 
the  Holy  Synod,  is  the  Orthodox  Christianity  of 
Russia  ;  that  is,  it  is  a  mere  political  tool. 

On  the  whole,  the  legislation  of  the  Niichen 
Tartars  (early  Manchus)  was  rather  anti-Buddhist ; 
but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  concerned  them- 
selves much  with  religion  of  any  kind,  except  in 
so  far  as  it  could  be  made  subservient  to  political 
ends ;  the  Manchu  mind  seems  particularly  well 
capacitated  for  taking  an  objective  and  detached 
view  of  all  religion.  The  Mongol  conqueror,  Genghis 
Khan,  showed  an  inclination  for  pure  Taoism,  but 
his  wars  left  him  no  time  to  decide  personally  upon 
a  religion  evidently  beyond  his  intellectual  calibre. 


4. .ITT, 


The  Daibutsu,  /.(■.  Ta-tuh,  or  "  Cireat  Buddha 
of  Kamakura  near  Tokyo. 


p.  96. 


IV.]  BUDDHIST   TRIUMPHS  97 

His  decrees  were  issued  under  the  protection  of 
Mengke  Tengri,  or  "  Eternal  Heaven " ;  yet  he 
officially  empowered  a  Chinese  Taoist  recluse  to 
take  charge  of  all  relig-ions  in  China,  Under  the 
head  of  Roman  Catholicism  some  remarks  will  be 
made  about  what  his  successors  Ogdai,  Kayuk,  and 
Mangu  did  :  the  bucolic  Mongol  mind  soon  fatigued 
of  pure  philosophy,  and  sought  congenial  refuge 
in  coarse  Tantric  worship,  seasoned  with  gross 
indulgence.  Kublai  Khan,  even  before  he  came 
to  the  throne  in  1260,  had  already  fallen  under 
the  influence  of  the  Tibetan  lama  Pagspa,  whom 
he  subsequently  constituted  State  Hierarch  and 
head  of  the  whole  Buddhist  Church.  Pagspa's 
younger  brother,  Ilinchin  or  Rintchen,  succeeded 
to  the  honour  in  1274,  and  in  1280  there  was  yet 
another  successor.  Buddhism  reached  during  the 
Mongol  dynasty  an  extravagant  height  in  court 
influence,  and  the  "  commands "  of  the  Hierarch 
even  ran  concurrently  with  the  decrees  of  the 
Khan  ;  Pagspa  was  often  accommodated  with  a  side 
seat  next  to  Kublai  in  full  public  durbar.  On  one 
occasion  at  least  (1281),  the  Emperor  arranged  for 
a  polemical  tournament  between  Buddhist  and 
Taoist  priests,  the  loser  to  accept  the  victor's 
religion.  The  Buddhists  gained  the  day,  and  the 
unfortunate  Taoist  disputants,  seventeen  in  number, 
were  ordered  to  accept  the  Buddhist  tonsure  on 
the  spot;  moreover,  270  old  Buddhist  monasteries, 
then  in  the  possession  of  the  Taoists,  were 
restored   to  the  bonzes,   and  an  order  was   issued 

G 


98  BUDDHISM  [chap. 

for  the  destruction  of  all  Taoist  literature  in  the 
empire  except  the  original  pure  classic  of  Lao-tsz. 
This  exception,  made  1800  years  after  Lao-tsz' 
disappearance,  emphasises  the  unbroken  reverence 
for  the  pure  doctrine,  the  genuineness  of  the  book, 
and  the  abyss  separating  vulgar  from  pure  Taoism. 
These  drastic  measures  in  favour  of  the  Buddhists 
brought  forth  a  strong  remonstrance  from  the 
Mussulman  Aisie,  who  will  be  mentioned  again 
farther  on  in  this  work  in  connection  with  the 
subject  of  Islam.  The  worst  form  of  corrupt 
Tantric  Buddhism,  coupled  with  every  form  of 
lust  and  abuse  on  the  part  of  the  bonzes,  seems 
to  have  had  a  free  run  in  China,  and  more 
especially  at  court,  throughout  the  Mongol 
dynasty,  most  of  the  monarchs  of  which  were  to 
the  last  moment  abject  slaves  of  the  priesthood. 
As  a  Chinese  work  says  : — 

"  The  high  esteem  for  the  Buddhist  faith  shown 
by  the  Mongol  dynasty  produced  corresponding 
greed  and  licence  on  the  part  of  the  bonzes, 
whose  wealth  in  property  of  all  kinds  exceeded 
that  of  the  imperial  princes  and  royal  personages. 
The  domineering  use  they  made  of  their  power 
was  greater  than  that  of  the  most  powerful  princes 
and  the  most  arrogant  ministers ;  they  meddled 
in  matters  of  State  and  squandered  the  wealth  of 
the  empire.  It  has  been  said,  indeed,  of  the 
Mongol  empire  that  '  it  perished  half  through 
bonzes,' — which  ought  to  be  a  salutary  warning  to 
others." 

When   Marco   Polo   speaks    of   "idolaters,"    no 


IV.]  TEMP  OR  A    HAUD   MUTANTUR  99 

doubt  he  refers  to  Buddhists — a  name  he  never 
once  mentions. 

The  Ming  dynasty  (1368- 1644)  seems  to  have 
been  the  most  successful  of  all  Chinese  dynasties 
in  relegating  religion  of  all  kinds  to  a  proper 
obscurity  so  far  as  interference  in  State  matters 
goes.  The  rulers  of  this  house,  following  the 
example  of  the  distinguished  founder,  who  was 
himself  an  ex-Buddhist  priest,  made  a  point, 
however,  of  humouring  and  conciliating  the 
hierarchy  of  Tibet ;  not  concealing  their  motive, 
which  was  anxiety  to  avoid  the  religious  complica- 
tions which  had  given  so  much  trouble  to  China 
under  the  T'ang  (618-908)  and  Mongol  (1206- 1367) 
dynasties.     The  third  emperor  (1425-1435)  said  : — 

"It  is  only  human  nature  to  desire  long  life. 
But  who  ever  heard  of  spiritual  beings  in  connec- 
tion with  the  long  reigns  of  our  [semi-historical] 
ancient  kings  ?  After  them  the  First  Emperor 
(b.c.  210)  and  Han  Wu-ti  (b.c.  100)  searched  in 
turn  for  immortality.  The  Liang  emperor  [died 
of  grief,  549]  and  Sung  emperor  [carried  off  by  the 
Tartars,  11 26]  got  nothing  for  their  prayers.  I  am 
fain  to  sigh  with  despair  when  I  see  that  in  our 
own  day  men  are  just  as  superstitious  as  ever." 

The  Ming  emperor  who  was  reigning  (152 1- 1566) 
when  the  first  Portuguese  reached  Peking  "caused 
to  be  burnt  all  the  Buddhist  sanctuaries  in  the 
palace  precincts,  together  with  hundreds,  and  even 
thousands,  of  gold-printed  books  and  images  of 
Buddha.     All  the  relics  of  Buddha  in  the  shape  of 


lOO  BUDDHISM  [chap.  iv. 

bones  and  teeth  were  thrown  away,  almost  without 
an  exception." 

None  of  the  Manchu  emperors  has  ever  shown 
the  slightest  affection  for  or  belief  in  Buddhism  ; 
the  two  first  might  have  been  Christians  if  the 
Jesuits  and  the  Popes  had  been  more  cautious ; 
the  third  was  somewhat  of  a  Taoist  mystic,  but 
his  son  K'ien-lung  got  rid  of  all  the  alchemists 
and  charlatans  who  had  practised  on  his  father's 
credulity  with  their  degenerate  Taoism  the  instant 
he  came  to  the  throne.  Since  then  Buddhism 
and  Taoism  {i.e.  the  corrupt  later  Taoism)  have 
been  contemptuously  and  good-naturedly  tolerated 
as  popular  requirements.  Pure  Taoism  is  still 
revered. 


CHAPTER   V 


FIRE-WORSHIP    AND    MANICIIEISM 

Shocking  impressions  left  on  the  Chinese  mind  by  Tartar  religious 
practices. — Enumeration  of  marriage,  funeral,  and  other  rites. — 
Early  Corean  and  Japanese  religious  notions.  —  Gradually 
increasing  knowledge  in  China  of  the  religious  customs  of  the 
nations  on  the  great  Asiatic  high  roads. — Introduction  of  a  new 
Chinese  word  to  signify  "  Heaven-spirit  (of  foreigners)." — Indica- 
tions of  early  Tersaiy  or  Christians,  in  the  Samarcand  region. — 
Fire-worship  widely  extended. — Polyandry  among  the  later  Indo- 
Scythians  or  Eptals.  —  Doubtful  Buddhism  in  Persia  itself. — 
Development  of  religion  in  the  Transoxiana  region  subject  to 
the  Western  Turks. — Wars  between  the  Turks  and  Persia. — 
Establishment  of  Mazdean  and  Manichean  temples  in  the 
Chinese  capital. — Flight  of  a  Persian  prince  to  China. — Chinese 
confusion  of  the  two  Persian  religions  with  Nestorianism,  and 
of  all  three  with  Buddhism. — Chinese  definition  of  Manichean 
tenets. — Tesh,  the  One-eyed,  sends  a  mathematician  from  Tokhara 
to  discuss  religion. — The  Ouigours  admit  Manicheism  into 
Tartary ;  they  obtain  permission  to  extend  the  religion  into 
Central  China. — Indebtedness  of  the  Chinese  to  the  Ouigours, 
who  were  protectors  of  Manicheism. — Object  probably  to  provide 
religious  services  for  Persian  traders  coming  by  sea. — Manicheans 
act  as  diplomatists  in  arranging  diplomatic  marriages  between 
Ouigour  and  Chinese  princely  pairs. — Ouigours  burn  the  most 
ancient  Buddhist  monastery.  —  At  least  seven  Manichean 
monasteries  in  China.— The  Kirghiz  crush  the  Ouigour  power  ; 
vae  victis  for  the  Manichean  sectaries. — Persecution  of  other 
religions  at  the  same  time.  —  Disappearance  of  Manicheism 
from  China. — Continues  for  several  centuries  in  Ouigour  land. 

In    considering    how    the    Persian    religions    found 
entry    into    China,    we     must    first     examine    the 


lOI 


102       FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

impressions  which   the  observances  of  the  Tartars 
had   left   upon   the  early   Chinese  mind :    most   of 
these  were  shocking.     For  instance,  the  Hiung-nu 
(ancestors   of  the   Turks)   despised   and   neglected 
the    aged,    used    personal    names    without    scruple, 
and  married  their  own  mothers  (except  the  natural 
mother) ;   all  in  opposition  to  the  Duke  of  Chou's 
exogamic    and    tabu    principles.      The    first    really 
historical  Jenuyeh  (Khagan)  of  whom  the  Chinese 
had    cognizance    murdered    his    own    father,    and 
jokingly    offered    to    marry  the    widowed    Empress 
of    China    (b.c.     190).     These    Chinese    Scythians 
wore  no  mourning,  and  used  to  turn  their  enemies' 
skulls  into  drinking  bowls  ;    such   bowls  were   also 
used  in    solemn   treaties,  when  the  parties  had  to 
drink    the    blood    of   a   white   horse   sacrificed   for 
the  occasion  with  a  special  scimitar  (as  is  mentioned 
of  Herodotus'  Scythians  too).     On  the  other  hand, 
some    customs    were  like    those    of    the    Chinese ; 
the  official  worship  of  the  sun  in  the  morning  and 
the  moon  in  the  evening ;  the  new  year's  assembly 
at   the   Court   Shrine ;    the   grand    meeting    in   the 
fifth  moon  at   ''Dragon    City";    the  three   annual 
sacrifices  to   the   Spirit   of   Heaven    on   these  two 
occasions,    and   also  in  the  ninth  moon  when  the 
ceremony  of  riding  round  and  shooting  at  a  willow 
bush  took  place  ;  and  the  burial  of  slaves  or  hand- 
maids with  distinguished  dead.     Coftins  were  in  use. 
Of  the   more   easterly  nomads  (lying   between 
the  Tunguses  proper  and  the  Turks,  and  apparently 
corresponding   to   the   later   Mongols)   some   other 


v.]  TARTAR   CUSTOMS  103 

customs  are  mentioned  which  may  or  may  not 
have  been  common  to  other  races.  The  mother 
was  considered  the  fountain  of  kinship,  and  was 
always  safe  from  personal  injury  ;  whilst  a  father 
or  elder  brother  might  be  killed  with  comparative 
impunity,  having  no  one  in  the  shape  of  kinsmen 
to  avenge  them.  Wives  taken  over  by  step-sons, 
younger  brothers,  or  uncles  reverted  to  their  first 
husbands  in  the  next  world.  Instead  of  using 
medical  or  surgical  remedies  in  times  of  sickness,  they 
invoked  the  spirits  of  Heaven,  Earth,  Mountain, 
and  Valley  for  relief  At  the  funeral  wakes  (which 
in  many  respects  strongly  resemble  the  modern 
Manchu  and  Corean  ceremonies)  arrangements 
were  made  to  escort  deceased's  soul  to  a  certain 
mountain  if  possible,  without  incurring  the  obstruc- 
tion of  evil  spirits.  In  addition  to  nature  worship, 
sacrifice  was  offered  to  the  vianes  of  distinguished 
chieftains.  Eating  and  drinking  were  preceded 
by  thank-offerings  and  libations.  As,  on  getting 
the  upper  hand,  these  easterly  tribes  dug  up  and 
desecrated  the  tombs  of  the  first-mentioned  and 
more  westerly  Scythians,  it  is  evident  that  burial 
places  were  held  sacred. 

The  northernmost  of  the  Corean  tribes 
worshipped  Heaven  at  the  end  of  the  year,  amidst 
feasting,  rejoicings,  and  general  clemency.  Cadets 
took  over  elder  brother's  wives,  and  criminals  were 
fed  up  or  kept  in  stock  for  burying  with  the  dead. 
Farther  south  the  Coreans  proper  sacrificed  to 
the   spiritual    powers,    the   gods   of  the    land,    and 


I04      FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

certain  stars  ;  in  the  tenth  moon  they  worshipped 
Heaven.  In  both  cases  the  ancient  worship  was 
preserved  after  the  introduction  of  Buddhism.  A 
Httle  further  north,  on  the  coast,  to  the  worship 
of  Heaven  in  the  tenth  moon  was  added  the  cult 
of  the  tiger,  which  suggests  some  Hnk  of  connection 
with  the  still  existing  bear-worship  of  the  Ainos 
(North  Japan).  In  the  true  peninsula  (of  modern 
Corea),  the  sacrifices  to  the  Spirit  of  Heaven  were 
more  organised  and  elaborate,  and  there  seems 
to  have  been  a  sanctuary  or  Alsatia  connected 
with  it.  The  early  Japanese  do  not  appear  to 
have  had  any  religious  ideas  deserving  special 
mention  ;  but,  like  most  of  the  Corean  and  Eastern 
Pacific  groups,  they  evidently  studied  the  arts  of 
divination.  Even  Confucius  did  this,  and  it  seems 
that  most  of  the  Tartar  races  did  so  too. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  was  nothing;  what- 
ever  in  the  above  practices,  so  far  as  they  were 
novel,  to  attract  the  respect  or  imitation  of  the 
Chinese :  where  the  customs  did  not  clash  with 
their  own  notions,  the  more  cultured  nation,  in 
recording  them,  had  no  call  to  make  a  change : 
where,  as  in  most  cases,  the  foreign  practice 
seemed  barbarous,  self-complacency  had  all  the 
more  reason  to  be  thankful  in  a  Pharisaic  spirit. 
Buddhism,  with  its  vast  spiritual  literature,  had 
enough  difficulty  to  make  headway  in  intellectual 
China ;  not  to  speak  of  Tartar,  Corean,  and 
Japanese  grossness,  unredeemed  by  even  the 
faintest  knowledge  of  letters — beyond  a  smattering 


v.]  OTHER   COMPETING    RELIGIONS  105 

of  Chinese.     After  the  two  spurts  of  comparatively- 
intimate   intercourse  with    High   Asia,   which   were 
really  limited   to  about   fifty  years   during  the  first 
century  B.C.  and  fifty  years  during  the  first  century 
A.D.,    the    political    influence    of    China    practically 
disappeared    from    the    West ;    and    nothing    very 
new  concerning  the  religious  notions  of  foreigners 
transpired   until    the    middle   of  the    fifth    century, 
when,     after     considerable    hesitation,     the     Toba 
Tartar  emperors  of    North    China  decided    to   re- 
open relations — of  course  by  land — with  Turkestan 
and    beyond.       Meanwhile    Buddhism,    as    already 
shown,    had    already    obtained    a    firm    footing    all 
over    Asia,    from    the    Indus,    Cabul    Valley,    and 
Oxus,    to    the    Pacific    Ocean.      The    southern    or 
purely    Chinese     dynasties    had    a    monopoly    of 
Buddhism,    mixed    with    S'ivaism,   coming   by  sea. 
But    there    are,    about    now,    growing    indications 
that     other     rehVious    notions     are     beeinnine     to 
attract    attention    in    China.      Thus    of    (modern) 
Harashar  it  is  stated  that  the  serving  of  the  Spirit 
of  Heaven  is  practised  concurrently  with  Buddhism  ; 
that  there  was  a  written  character  in  use  "similar 
to    the    Brahman " ;    and    that    there    were    great 
Buddhist  fasts  and  "  walks  "  or  fetes  on  the  eighth 
day  of  the  second  moon  and  the  eighth  day  of  the 
fourth    moon.      The    dead    were    first    burnt    and 
then  buried  ;   mourning  lasted  seven  days.     Turfan 
(modern)  was  also  a  place  where  the  worship  of  the 
Spirit  of  Heaven  existed  together  with  Buddhism. 
Passing  on   to  the   first  half  of  the  sixth  century, 


io6      FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

we  find  the  Joujan  Tartars,  two  of  whose  Khagans 
bore  purely  Hindoo  names,   cultivating  the   Spirit 
of   Heaven    along  with   Buddha,   and  trying   at   a 
solemn  function  to  recover  from   Heaven  a  young 
prince  who  was  supposed  to  have  died,  and  whose 
voice  was  heard  (through  a  piece  of  priestly  hocus- 
pocus)  explaining  to  the  anxious  family  his  position 
in  Heaven.     One  of  the  Eptal  states  (corresponding 
to  the  Chitral  of  to-day)  did  not  believe  at  all   in 
Buddha's    Law,    but    abided    by    the    "serving    of 
the  gods":    the  envoy  Sung  Yiin   (515-517)   tried 
in   vain   to  reach  this  place.     The   practice  of  the 
Persians   was   to  worship  the   Fire   Spirit  and  the 
Spirit    of    Heaven ;    their    written    character    was 
different     from    the     "Hu"     (a    vague    word    for 
"Tartar"  and  "  Indian  "  taken  together) ;  the  dead 
are    exposed,    and    funerals    are    looked    after    by 
a   pariah   class   who   live    outside,   and  sound  bells 
when    they    enter    the     city.       Mourning     lasts    a 
month  ;    the  sixth   moon   is   the   first  of  the  year, 
and  there  are   great   fetes  on   the   seventh   of  the 
seventh   moon    and   first    of   the    twelfth.     On    the 
twentieth    of    the    first    moon,    besides,    every   one 
sacrifices    to    ancestors.      In    (modern)    Samarcand 
they  serve  Buddha  and  write  in   "  Hu "  character; 
but  there  are  also   ancestral   state  sacrifices  in  the 
sixth  moon,  and  all  the  other  sub-states  assisted  at 
them  :  there  is  preserved  a  "  Hu  "  code,  placed  in 
the  hien^  shrine,  and  it  is  from  this   that  criminal 
or  penal  decisions  are  taken. 

^  It  is  around  this  specially  introduced  and  quite  new  Chinese 


v.]         GLIMMERINGS   OF  CHRISTIANITY       107 

There  can  be  no  question  of  Islam  as  yet,  for 
the  above  all  refers  to  the  sixth  century  at  the  very 
latest.     Khoten  is  described  at  length  and  in  detail 
as    being   purely  Buddhist ;    but    a    place    near    it 
(modern  Borasan)  is  pointed  out  where  "tradition 
says     Laocius     converted    the     Hu,    and     himself 
became  Buddha."     Kashgar,   Kuch^,  and  Tokhara 
are    Buddhist.       Udjana    "mostly   so";    but    the 
"  Brahman  Hu  "   are    there    the  upper  caste — pro- 
bably alluding  to  S'ivaic  or  Brahmanic  admixtures. 
A  state  hereditarily  governed  by  a  woman,  in  the 
Tibeto  -  Kashmir     region,    was    given    to    demon 
(Asura)    worship.       A     state     belonging     to     the 
Samarcand    system,    apparently    Ishtikhan,    south 
of   the    Zarafshan    River,    worships    the     Teh-sih 
Spirit;  "and    the  various  countries  eastward  from 
the  West  Sea  all  venerate  and  serve  it ;  this  spirit 
has    a   gold    image    15    feet   high,   and   every  day 
thousands  of  people  are  fed  on  the  camels,  horses, 
and  sheep  sacrificed  to  it."     In  another  state,  230 
miles  south  of  Bamyan,   there  were    "many  lewd 
worships.       In    the    Ts'ung-ling    (Hindoo    Koosh) 
Mountains   there   are   some    who   obey    the    Spirit 
of    Heaven,    with     exceedingly    showy    forms,    a 
thousand    worshippers    appearing    daily ;    in    front 
of  the    shrine    is    the    dorsal   bone  of  a  huge  fish, 
through  which  a  cavalier  can  ride."     A  state  which 

word  hien^  originally  intended  to  mean  "the  Heaven  Spirit  (of  the 
Tartars)"  that  most  of  the  ambiguities  in  the  Persian  religions 
congregate.  Even  the  above-mentioned  "Fire  Spirit"  of  Persia 
is,  in  one  of  the  histories  of  this  period,  written  "  Fire  Men  Spirit " 
in  exactly  the  same  specific  connection. 


io8      FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

seems  to  be  Eptal  proper  (modern  Kunduz),  serves 
the  Spirit  of  Heaven  and  the  Spirit  of  Fire.  They 
go  outside  the  door  every  day  to  worship  the  Spirit 
before  eating.  They  are  rather  short  of  women, 
and  therefore  practise  polyandry  ;  have  no  writing 
of  their  own,  but  use  Hu  writing,  on  parchment,  in 
their  deaHngs  with  Hu  :  the  Eptal  country  adjoins 
Persia  to  the  west ;  and  the  chapter  of  history 
recording  this  (which,  however,  is  a  doubtful  one, 
and  apparently  based  not  on  travel  but  on  hearsay), 
adds  that  Persia  "  has  two  or  three  hundred 
Buddhist  monasteries  outside  its  city,"  and  that 
in  the  year  530,  it  sent  a  Buddha's  tooth  to  China. 
This  can  scarcely  be  true  of  true  Sassanide  Persia, 
but  may  be  true  of  some  easterly  Persian  (or  Eptal) 
province. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that,  although 
up  to  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  there  is  no 
mention  of  any  Western  religion  except  Buddhism 
in  China  proper,  or  of  any  other  literary  religion 
among  the  Tartars,  Tibetans,  or  other  north- 
eastern nations,  there  is  specific  mention  of  fire- 
worship  in  Persia,  and  in  the  Eptal  dominions 
which  engaged  in  such  prolonged  and  bloody  wars 
with  the  Sassanides.  The  mention  of  fire-worship 
nearer  to  China  is  not  determinate  ;  but  there  is 
evidence  of  some  other  religion,  perhaps  of  several  ; 
and  the  unexplained  Tih-sih  is  quite  etymologically 
compatible  with  the  Terzai  (Christians  and  other 
non  -  fire  -  worshippers)  of  Persia.  Finally,  the 
Tartars    had,    from    the    beginning,    never    been 


v.]  TURKS   AND   FRANKS  109 

without  their  Spirit  of  Heaven.  It  is  recorded 
in  Toba  history  that  the  empress  who  sent  Sung 
Yiin  to  the  Cabul  Valley  for  Buddhist  books,  made 
a  special  exception  of  the  "  Hu  Spirit  of  Heaven" 
when,  during  a  wave  of  religious  repression  in 
North  China,  it  was  a  question  of  persecuting 
inconvenient  beliefs.  Chinese  history  knows 
nothing  whatever  in  detail  about  the  sanguinary 
wars  between  Persia  and  the  Eptals  which  took 
place  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  century  ;  still  less  of  the 
religious  struggles  which  then  convulsed  Persia, 
and  of  the  rivalry  there  of  the  Nestorians,  Catholics, 
Mazdeans,  and  Mazdekans.  But  enough  has  been 
said  to  show  that  the  ground  was  fully  prepared 
in  China  for  the  import  of  new  doctrines. 

The  Turks — for  so  the  predominant  Hiung-nu 
began  to  be  called  after  the  year  550 — possessed 
the  religious  customs  of  most  Tartars  ;  tents  facing 
east ;  sun  worship,  soothsayers,  funeral  wakes ; 
service  with  water  of  the  Spirit  of  Heaven  ;  gashing 
of  the  face  by  way  of  mourning.  Mention  is 
further  made  of  a  hill  consecrated  to  the  Spirit  of 
the  Earth.  No  sooner  had  the  Turks  annihilated 
the  power  of  the  Supreme  Khagan  of  the  Joujan, 
than  they  proceeded  to  crush  and  annex  that  of 
the  Eptals,  which  brought  them  at  once  into 
collision  with  Persia,  and  thus  into  relation  with 
Byzantium.  The  Chinese  had  only  just  begun  to 
hear  vaguely  of  the  Western  Empire  as  Fuh-lin, 
and  knew  nothing  of  these  Turko- Roman  relations  : 
however,  the  Greek  authors,  writing  of  the  Turks 


no      FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

of  the  sixth  century,  tell  us  how  they  honour  fire, 
venerate  air  and  water,  and  celebrate  the  Earth ; 
but  only  actually  worship  the  Author  of  Heaven 
and  Earth,  to  whom  they  sacrifice  horses,  cattle, 
and  sheep  ;  and,  moreover,  they  possess  soothsayers. 
The  Chinese  histories  state  that  the  Turks 
cremated  at  least  some  of  their  dead,  specifically 
alluding  to  a  Turkish  royal  funeral  in  China. 
Dogs  from  Fuh-lin  were  brought  as  presents  to 
China  —  presumably  by  the  Turks  —  by  way  of 
Turfan  as  early  as  622  ;  and  two  or  three  years 
after  this  the  Chinese  found  the  Khagan  of  the 
Western  Turks  patronising  the  Hindoo  priest 
Prabha-Karamitra,  who  himself  visited  China  in 
626.  In  view  of  all  this  we  need  not  be  surprised 
to  read  in  the  local  chronicles  of  Si-an  Fu,  the  then 
Chinese  capital  of  Ch'ang-an,  that  "in  the  year  621 
a  Hu-Z^zVw  temple  had  been  erected,  served  by  an 
establishment  of  Sapao  (Saba),  or  Hu  ritualists, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  manage  matters  concerning 
the  W\i-hien  Spirit."  An  editorial  note  suggests 
that  this  hien  Spirit  is  probably  the  same  as  the 
Yiw-t'ien  (Heaven)  Spirit  protected  by  the  Toba 
empress.  A  Chinese  work  on  Buddhism  says  that 
in  the  year  631  a  niuh-hu  named  Holuh  brought  to 
the  imperial  palace  at  Ch'ang-an  the  religion  of  the 
hien  Spirit,  in  consequence  of  which  the  Emperor 
authorised  the  construction  of  a  Ta-ts'in  temple. 
"  As  to  this  Fire  hien  Spirit,  once  there  was  in 
Persia,  a  certain  Su-lu-chi  (Zoroaster),  who  pro- 
moted   its    worship."       The    celebrated    Buddhist 


The  cremation  of  a  Buddhist  priest  in  Ikirma. 

{To  face  p.  no. 


v.]  PERSIAN   RELIGION  in 

pilgrim  Hiian  Chwang,  who  in  630  visited  the 
Khagan  of  the  Turks  at  his  encampment  near 
Issyk-kul,  found  that  the  West  Turks  there,  in 
spite  of  Prabha  -  Karamitra's  efforts,  were  still 
sufficiently  observant  of  fire-worshipping  principles 
to  abstain  from  sitting  down  on  inflammable  wood  ; 
the  Khagan  spoke  contemptuously  of  what  he 
called  the  black  people  of  "  Indica,"  but  he  furnished 
the  pilgrim  notwithstanding  with  an  escort  as  far 
as  Kapi9a.  A  change  had  taken  place  in  the 
relisfion  of  the  states  under  Western  Turk  influence. 
In  635  the  King  of  Kashgar  had  married  a  Turkish 
princess,  and  "it  was  the  custom  of  the  country  to 
worship  the  hien  Spirit."  Khoten  was  also  under 
Turkish  influence,  and  worshipped  both  the  hien 
Spirit  and  Buddha.  The  King  of  Samarcand  had, 
previously  to  this  date,  married  the  daughter  of 
Tardu  Khagan,  who  is  actually  mentioned  under 
that  name  by  the  Greek  authors :  the  Spirit  of 
Heaven  was  worshipped  here  too ;  yet  in  one 
passage  it  is  said:  "They  honour  the  Buddhist 
religion,  and  sacrifice  to  the  hien  Spirit."  But  the 
strongest  evidence  of  all  comes  from  the  official 
Chinese  history  of  Persia ; 

"  They  sacrifice  to  Heaven  and  Earth,  the  Sun, 
Moon,  Water,  and  Fire.  The  different  Hu  people 
of  the  various  Western  States  accept  all  their  rules 
for  the  worship  of  hien  (or,  as  a  second  history 
words  it,  '  for  the  service  of  the  fire  hien ').  The 
Khagan  (the  one  just  mentioned)  carried  war  into 
Persia,  killed  the  King  Khosrou,  and  sent  a 
resident  to  watch  his  successor   Shiroe.      But  the 


112       FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

Persians  after  his  death  were  unwilling  to  recognise 
Turkish  supremacy,  and  went  to  bring  back  his  son 
Ardishir  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Fuh-lin  (Syria,  or 
other  parts  of  the  Byzantine  Empire).  Yezdegerd 
succeeded  him,  and  in  638  sent  envoys  to  China. 
Finally  he  was  attacked  by  the  Arabs  and  killed." 

The  history  goes  on  to  explain  how  Yezdegerd's 
son,  Piruz,  took  refuge  in  Tokhara,  and  sought 
assistance  from  China  ;  after  many  years  of  vain 
attempts  to  recover  his  throne,  Piruz,  through 
China's  assistance,  returned  to  die  in  the  Chinese 
capital ;  but  in  the  year  677  he  obtained  as  a 
solace  from  the  Emperor  permission  to  establish 
a  Persian  temple  at  Ch'ang-an  (Si-an  Fu).  In 
the  year  706  the  site  was  wanted  for  other  purposes, 
so  the  Persian  temple  was  transferred  to  a  spot 
just  west  of  the  hien  temple.  "  Amongst  the 
Persian  functionaries  are  the  moh-hu-Van  {magu- 
patdn,  or  Magi)."  This  last  statement  appears  in 
Chinese  history  at  least  a  century  before  Piruz' 
arrival  in  China  to  set  up  a  temple  served  by 
Magi.  In  the  year  694  a  Persian,  bearing  a  name 
which  sounds  like  Fertadan,  arrived  in  China 
from  Ta-ts'in  on  the  Western  Sea,  bringing  holy 
books  upon  the  Dual  Principles  (of  Mani). 

The  sum  total  of  the  above  evidence,  deficient 
though  it  may  be  in  precision,  is  that  there  were 
two  Persian  religions  connected  with  fire-worship ; 
Piruz'  religion  and  temple  were  presumably  the 
orthodox  Mazdeism  ;  and,  if  so,  the  other  religion 
and  temple  which  are  several  times  actually  called 


v.]  SCHISMATIC   RELIGIONS  113 

Manichean,  is  likely  to  have  been  always  so.  It 
is  also  abundantly  clear  that  it  worked  its  way  to 
China  through  the  Oxus  states  subject  to  the 
Western  Turks,  having  already  existed  there 
whilst  those  states  formed  part  of  the  Eptal 
dominions  at  secular  war  with  Persia ;  the  Northern 
or  Eastern  Turks  never  showed  traces  of  having 
admitted  any  Persian  religion.  As  we  shall  shortly 
see,  the  Chinese  writers,  besides  being  somewhat 
vague  as  to  the  distinction  between  Mazdeism 
and  the  artful  composition  of  it  and  Christianity 
propagated  by  Mani  in  270-277,  were  also  inclined 
at  times  to  confuse  both  with  Nestorianism,  and 
to  regard  all  three  as  heretic  or  "  outer  road " 
forms  of  Buddhism.  Moreover,  the  very  Chinese 
word  for  Mani  is  borrowed  from  the  earlier  Chinese 
word  used  for  the  Buddhist  mani  or  "spotless"  (as 
in  the  words  O^n  mmii  padnii  hum  of  Tibetan 
Buddhism).  This  confusion  therefore  is  scarcely 
to  be  wondered  at  when  we  reflect  that  Buddhism 
reached  China  from  India  via  the  I ndo- Scythians 
of  the  Cabul  Valley  and  Tokhara,  whilst  all  the 
other  religions  came  by  way  of  the  same  Indo- 
Scythians  (in  their  later  designation  of  Eptal), 
via  exactly  the  same  routes.  It  is  further  to  be 
noticed  that  all  persons  from  Syria  or  Europe 
were  bound  to  come  to  China  either  through 
Persia  or  through  the  Turks ;  and  as  both  these 
powers  were  contesting  with  the  Roman  Empire 
possession  of  the  Upper  Euphrates,  Black  Sea, 
and     Caspian     regions,     it    was     difficult     for     the 


H 


114      FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

Chinese  to  say,  on  information  gathered,  where 
Persia  and  "Turkey"  ended,  and  where  Ta-ts'in 
or  Fuh-Hn  began.  Contemporary  early  Chinese 
histories  are  by  no  means  lacking  in  definitions  of 
Manichean  tenets ;  for  instance,  standard  history 
tells  us  that  "they  dine  at  sundown,  drink  water, 
and  eat  savoury,  rejecting  kumiss."  There  is  some 
doubt  about  the  correct  reading  of  this  ninth 
century  passage,  but  the  religious  works  of  the 
eleventh  century  make  things  clearer.     Thus  : 

"  As  to  the  Dual  Principles,  men  and  women 
do  not  intermarry  ;  they  go  about  common  business 
in  silence ;  take  no  medicine  for  sickness ;  and 
are  buried  naked  ;  eat  no  flesh  and  drink  no  wine  ; 
sleep  during  the  day  and  rise  in  the  evening,  and 
believe  in  using  perfumes," 

It  must  be  pointed  out  that  Manicheism  itself 
had  been  reformed  by  Mazdek,  who  made  a 
convert  of  the  Persian  King  Kobad.  As  the 
Chinese  actually  mention  this  King  by  name  in 
518-520,  and  also  mention  in  553  (but  not  by 
name)  his  son  and  successor  Khosrou,  who  in  533 
massacred  Mazdek  and  80,000  of  his  converts,  it 
is  of  course  possible  that  all  Chinese  and  Tartar 
Manicheans  were  exiled  Mazdekians,  whose  tenets 
would  be  all  the  easier  for  them  to  accept.  Thus 
Mazdek  prescribed  fire  -  worship ;  allowed  all 
sexual  unions,  irrespective  of  kinship  ;  but  permitted 
no  meat,  fat,  or  any  food  stronger  than  vegetables, 
eggs,  milk,  and  cheese — which,  of  course,  would 
admit   for    use    articles   made    of   mares'   milk,    so 


v.]  THE   ROOF   OF   THE   WORLD  115 

much  consumed  by  the  Tartars  in  the  form  of 
cheeses,  wheys,  and  mixed  drinks,  fermented  or 
otherwise.  The  Dualism  of  Mani  was  almost 
precisely  the  yin  and  the  yang  of  ancient  Chinese 
philosophy ;  the  abstinence  and  continence  had 
already  been  introduced  by  Buddhism,  and  therefore 
would  not  shock  Chinese  sentiment, — even  though 
Mazdek's  disciples  had  not  eased  these  injunctions 
down  a  litde.  More  light  will  be  thrown  on  this 
point  when  we  come  to  discuss  the  vicissitudes 
of  Nestorianism  and  Buddhism  during  the  seventh 
and  eighth  centuries.  Previous  to  the  end  of 
the  eighth  century,  the  Mazdeism  of  a  state  called 
Kobadhiyan  (on  the  Oxus)  is  fully  described,  and 
it  is  stated  that  the  Arab  conquerors  were  only 
prevented  by  timely  emanations  of  fire  within  the 
temple  from  destroying  it. 

In  the  year  719  Tesh,  King  of  Jaganyan 
(north  of  the  Oxus)  in  Tokhara,  sent  a  letter  to 
the  Emperor  of  China  introducing  a  great  astro- 
nomical scholar,  and  assuring  the  Emperor  that 
this  mudja  would  be  pleased  to  answer  any  religious 
questions ;  it  was  also  begged  that  a  chapel  or 
school  —  a  "system  hall" — might  be  established, 
where  those  of  the  teaching  might  follow  their 
tenets.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that  "  Tesch, 
the  One-eyed,"  Turkish  Governor  or  Viceroy  of 
Tokhara,  has  been  mentioned,  and  at  this  date, 
by  the  Mussulman  author  Tabari.  In  the 
trilingual  inscription  of  Kara-balgassun  on  the 
Orkhon,    recently    discovered    by    Mr    ladrintseff, 


ii6      FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

mention  is  made  of  a  "true  religion"  having  been 
introduced  into  Ouigour-land,  and  there  is  further 
mention  made  of  7nudja  and  their  acolytes  coming 
in  great  numbers  to  preach  the  new  faith. 
Unfortunately  the  inscription  is  imperfect,  and 
the  date  doubtful,  but  other  passages  in  standard 
history  make  the  way  clear  for  us.  Thus  in  766- 
779  Manichean  temples  were  constructed  at  places 
corresponding  to  the  modern  Ningpo,  Yang-chou 
(opposite  Chinkiang),  Nan-ch'ang  (capital  of  Kiang 
Si),  and  King-chou  (the  Manchu  garrison  town 
of  Hu  Peh  province).  Between  768  and  771  an 
imperial  decree  ordered  those  Ouigours  who 
practised  Manicheism  to  build  "  Cloud  -  bright " 
monasteries.  Finally,  the  Ouigours  requested  per- 
mission in  771  to  establish  "  Cloud  -  bright  " 
monasteries  in  the  four  places  above  named  ;  the 
officiating  priests  wore  white  caps  and  garments. 
Thus  the  chain  of  evidence  is  complete,  though 
each  separate  link  by  itself  would  be  doubtful. 
The  power  of  the  Northern  or  Eastern  Turks 
had  been  broken  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
century  ;  the  Ouigours  (a  tribe  of  the  northernmost 
group  of  Hiung-nu  originally  known  to  the  Turks 
and  Chinese  alike  as  Tolos)  had  moved  south 
and  occupied  the  Turkish  territory  ;  the  Ouigours 
had  in  j62)-777  rendered  valuable  assistance  to 
the  Chinese  against  rebels  and  Tibetan  invaders  ; 
the  same  Ouigours  had  become  acquainted  with 
the  Manichean  doctrine  in  the  two  Chinese  capitals 
(the     Si-an     Fu     and     Ho-nan     Fu     of     to-day) 


v.]  PRIESTLY   DIPLOMATS  117 

recovered  and  pillaged  by  them ;  and  they  had 
in  a  way  taken  the  Manichean  religion  under  their 
official  protection.  The  demand  for  temples  in 
South  China,  where  there  were  no  Ouigours,  was 
manifestly  made  at  the  instance  of  Persian  priests, 
who  wished  to  serve  the  Persian  traders,  at  Canton 
and  elsewhere,  who  had  come  to  China  by  sea. 

The  Chinese  had  much  more  steady  and  intimate 
relations  with  the  Ouigours  than  they  had  ever 
had  with  the  Turks  ;  Chinese  princesses  were  given 
in  marriage  to  the  Khagans,  and  were  fitted  out 
with  sumptuous  establishments ;  Chinese  princes 
married  Ouigour  girls,  who  visited  the  imperial 
court  with  suites  of  Ouigour  matrons  ;  and  emperors 
took  the  field  side  by  side  with  the  Khagans  ;  on 
one  occasion  an  emperor  then  commanding  a 
Chinese  army,  even  went  down  on  his  knees  in 
front  of  his  army  in  order  to  beg  the  royal 
Ouigour  general  to  refrain  from  plunder  ;  and,  by 
the  way,  it  is  curious  to  notice  that  on  this  occasion 
the  Ouigours  set  fire  to  the  historical  White  Horse 
Buddhist  Monastery,  in  which  the  richer  classes  of 
Ho-nan  Fu  had  sought  refuge  from  their  licence. 
During  the  marriage  negotiations  of  806  some 
Manichean  priests,  who,  it  is  distinctly  stated,  then 
enjoyed  great  and  permanent  political  influence 
at  the  Ouigour  court,  surprised  the  Chinese  by 
appearing  in  the  capacity  of  official  envoys  for  the 
first  time  ;  they  took  advantage  of  their  favoured 
position  to  connive  at  various  rogueries  with  the 
Chinese  merchants  in  the  metropolitan  bazaar :  this 


ii8       FIRE-WORSHIP  AND  MANICHEISM    [chap. 

last   passage   evidently   alludes    to   the   practice   of 
smuggling  girls  away   with   the    caravans.     In   the 
following    year     they     applied     for     and     obtained 
permission   to   establish   Manichean    monasteries   in 
T'ai-yuan   Fu   (Shan   Si),    Ho-nan   Fu  (Ho    Nan), 
and  Ch'ang-an  (Shen  Si) ;  but  it  is  highly  probable 
that  these   three,    together   with   the    four   of  779, 
formed  the  total  in  China,  for  a  temple  inscription 
of    that    date    (810-820)    says:      "Of    the    three 
barbarian   monasteries,    Mani,  Ta-ts'in   (Nestorian), 
and  hien   Spirit  (Mazdean)   there  are   not  more  in 
the  whole   empire   than   you   would  find  of  S'akya 
(Buddhist)  monasteries  in  one  small  city."     In  840 
the  rising  Kirghiz  power  overwhelmed  the  Ouigours, 
and  the   defeated    tribes,   having    sought   refuge   in 
China,    rewarded   the   kindness    of  the    Chinese    in 
affording  them  asylum  and   relief  by  shortly  after- 
wards   revolting.      After     the    Ouigours    had    been 
broken   up   once   more  by  the    Chinese,   the  latter 
decided    to    do   away    also    with    their    indirect    or 
Manichean    influence    at   the    two    capitals,    and    in 
843    a    decree    ordered    both    the    confiscation    of 
their  property,  and  the  burning  of  all    Manichean 
books  and  images  on   the  public  road.     The  well- 
known    tendency    of    Manicheans    to   accommodate 
themselves  to  the  religion  of  the  country  in  which 
they  were — their  adoption  in  the  West,  for  instance, 
of  the  divinity  of  Christ — may  account  for  these  un- 
explained images  ;  just  as  the  Buddhist  Mahes'vara 
was  borrowed  by  the  Mazd^ans,  or,  at  all   events, 
by  the  "Western  Hu,"  to  represent  their  "  Spirit  of 


v.]  THE    PERSIAN   MAGI  119 

Heaven."  In  that  very  year  (843)  four  Manichean 
priests  assisted  the  loyal  portion  of  the  Ouigours 
to  negotiate  for  the  safe  return  of  the  Chinese 
princess,  who  had  been  captured  and  recaptured 
by  various  contending  parties  ;  yet  a  second  decree 
ordered  the  suppression  of  all  the  Manichean 
monasteries  within  the  empire,  in  consequence  of 
which  over  seventy  nuns  at  the  capital  perished  ; 
those  living  amongst  the  Ouigours  were  banished 
to  remote  provinces,  where  the  greater  part  died. 
Two  years  later  2000  Ta-ts'in  muh-hu  (i.e.  mogk, 
or  Magi),  ^ve-kien  (Mazdeans),  etc.,  were  com- 
pelled to  revert  to  the  lay  life.  One  reading  has 
muh-hu-pak  {tnag-hu-bdd)  instead  of  "■  nmh-hu  fire 
hien^'  and  a  third  has  muh-hu  hien  priests ;  but 
these  discrepancies  do  not  affect  the  general  sense. 
Though  Manicheans  henceforth  disappear  from 
China,  they  seem  to  have  continued  to  exist  in 
Ouigour-land ;  for  in  the  year  951,  after  the  T'ang 
dynasty  had  disappeared,  the  Ouigours  sent  a 
Manichean  envoy  to  China  (later  Chou  dynasty). 
In  961,  a  Manichean  sent  some  presents  from 
Khoten  to  the  newly-established  Sung  dynasty ; 
and  in  982  the  Chinese  envoy  to  the  Ouigours 
of  Turfan,  then  strongly  Buddhist,  found  there  a 
Manichean  monastery  served  by  Persian  priests. 


CHAPTER  VI 

NESTORIANISM 

After  struggling  with  Manicheans  in  Persia,  Nestorians  renew  the 
competition  in  China. — In  638  the  Emperor  of  China  formally 
admits  the  Nestorians  as  "  Persian  bonzes." — Phraseology  borrowed 
from  Taoism  and  Buddhism. — The  stone  still  in  situ  which 
defines  the  Christianity  of  those  days. — The  Messiah  born  from 
a  Virgin  in  Ta-ts'in  :  the  Persian  Magi  come  with  offerings. — 
Shaving  of  the  head. — Historical  details  strictly  corroborated  by 
standard  Chinese  history. — The  first  Nestorian,  Alopen,  arrived 
in  635. — Nestorian  priests  called  "  High  Virtues,"  or  "  Great 
Virtues,"  equal  to  "  Very  Reverend."  —  Many  points  in  the 
modern  Christian  doctrine  left  out. — Close  historical  proofs  of 
the  authenticity  of  the  facts  given  in  the  Nestorian  stone. — The 
Syrian  inscriptions  on  the  stone  corroborate  or  are  corroborated 
by  Chinese  or  Western  evidence. — Competing  religions  during 
the  T'ang  dynasty. — Confucian  hostility  to  Buddhism  at  the  time 
when  Nestorianism  flourished. — The  Empress  of  China  an  ex- 
nun.  —  Favours  corrupt  Buddhism  ;  no  evidence  that  the 
Nestorians  excited  any  direct  hostility. — Religious  observances 
of  the  Northern  Turks. — Confucianist  remonstrances  against 
Buddhism. — A  good-natured  Chinese  Emperor  now  favours  all 
religions. — Manichean  opportunities,  and  Nestorians  in  favour. — 
Denunciation  of  the  Buddha's  Bone  mummery.  —  Enormous 
increase  in  the  number  of  Buddhist  monasteries  and  nunneries. 
— More  persecutions  by  a  Taoist  Emperor.  —  Doubtful  if 
Nestorians  were  involved. — "Great  Virtues"  sent  to  China  from 
India. — Malabar  Rites  question. — Pope  Pius  X.  and  the  Malabar 
mission. 

It  has  already  been    shown    that  during  the  sixth 

century  new  religions   had    appeared   all    over  the 

Oxus    region,    and    that   possibly    Christianity    was 
110 


CHAP.  VI.]  INTRODUCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY   121 

one  of  them.  In  any  case,  the  Manicheans,  even 
though  they  found  that  it  suited  their  purpose 
better  in  the  East  to  pose  as  Buddhists,  had 
shown  themselves  in  the  West  as  disciples  of  the 
Paraclete.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore, 
that  their  rivals  the  Nestorians,  with  whom  they 
had  been  striving  so  long  in  Persia,  should  follow 
close  upon  their  heels  so  soon  as  there  was  a 
prospect  of  success  in  China.  The  nominal  founder 
of  the  great  T'ang  dynasty  abdicated  to  the  real 
founder,  his  son,  in  627,  and  in  the  summer  of  638 
there  appeared  the  following  decree  : — 

"  Tao  has  no  constant  name,  holiness  no 
constant  form  ;  cults  are  established  according  to 
place,  for  the  unobtrusive  salvation  of  the  masses. 
The  Persian  bonze  Alopen  has  come  from  afar  to 
submit  to  Us  at  Our  capital  his  scriptural  cult. 
Examining  closely  into  the  significance  of  that 
cult,  We  find  it  is  transcendental  and  quiescent  ; 
that  it  represents  and  sets  forth  the  most  important 
principles  of  our  being,  just  as  much  as  it  tends  to 
the  salvation  and  profit  of  mankind.  It  may  well 
be  carried  over  the  Empire.  The  executive  will 
therefore  forthwith  erect  in  the  I-ning  ward  of  this 
city  a  monastery,  with  twenty-one  qualified  priests." 

Most  of  the  phraseology  in  this  decree  is  Taoist 
and  Buddhist ;  and,  of  course,  it  could  not  well  be 
otherwise.  The  words  for  "bonze"  or  "priest" 
{shig  or  samgka),  and  for  "salvation"  and 
"qualified"  ("pass  over,"  i.e.  the  abyss  or  river 
separating  sinful  mortals  from  the  happy  shores), 
are  particularly    Buddhist.     On    the    Chinese    map 


122  NESTORIANISM  [chap. 

published  with  the  Gazetteer  of  Si-an  Fu,  marking 
the  modern  changes  in  the  wards  of  1300  years 
ago,  the  name  "Persian  Hu  monastery"  still 
appears  on  its  proper  ancient  site. 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  doctrine 
taught  by  Alopen,  for  the  commemorative  stone 
describing  the  new  religion  exists  almost  intact 
to  this  day,  and  many  rubbings  of  it  are  in  the 
possession  of  European  students.  It  begins  by 
defining  the  mysterious  attributes  of  Aloha 
(Elohim),  and  then  proceeds  with  a  rapid  sketch 
of  the  Creation  as  told  in  the  Book  of  Genesis. 
But  innocent  man  was  exposed  to  the  wiles  of 
Sotan  (Satan),  whence  arose  unrest,  heresy,  and 
schism.  In  due  course  our  three  -  one  divided- 
body,  the  high  and  mighty  Mi-shih-a  (Messiah)  is 
announced,  and  a  Virgin  gives  birth  to  the  Holy 
One  in  Ta-ts'in  (all  west  of  the  Euphrates  and 
the  Caspian).  Persians,  noticing  the  herald  star, 
come  with  presents.  From  the  Incarnation  the 
account  proceeds  to  the  Redemption.  Having 
fulfilled  what  was  written  in  the  "  twenty  -  four 
books"  (as  counted  by  the  Babylonian  Jews),  the 
Messiah  founded  an  "ineffable  three-one  new 
teaching."  After  confounding  the  demon  and 
indicating  the  way  to  salvation.  He  ascended  into 
Heaven,  leaving  behind  twenty-seven  books  (the 
New  Testament)  to  explain  the  doctrine.  Baptism 
and  the  sign  of  the  Cross  are  next  discussed.  The 
followers  of  this  faith  shave  the  crown  and  allow 
the  beard  to  grow  ;  keep  no  slaves,  and  recognise 


VI.]  THE   FIRST    NESTORIAN  123 

no  distinction  of  persons ;  amass  no  riches ;  and 
purify  themselves  in  strict  retreat  by  silence, 
prayer,  and  watching.  The  various  other  beauties 
of  the  doctrine  are  then  pointed  out  in  detail. 

The  historical  sketch  which  follows  the  above 
expos^  de  motifs  on  the  stone  explains  to  us  why 
the  original  decree  styled  the  new  faith  a  "scriptural 
cult." 

"  Alopen,  the  High  Virtue  of  Ta-ts'in,  arrived 
in  the  year  635  at  Ch'ang-an  (still  the  divisional 
name  of  Si-an  Fu)  with  some  true  scriptures  (the 
word  used  for  Confucian  and  Taoist  *  classics  '  and 
for  Buddhist  stltras).  His  books  were  translated, 
and  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of  an  eminent 
statesman  (died  648),  receiving  permission  to 
preach." 

The  decree  of  638  is  then  quoted,  except  that 
it  is  slightly  amplified,  that  the  words  "  Ta-ts'in 
State  Great  Virtue"  are  substituted  for  "Persian 
bonze,"  ^  and  the  words  "scripture  and  images" 
for  "scripture  cult."  It  is  added  that  the 
Emperor  sent  his  portrait  to  be  hung  up  in  the 
new  monastery.  The  scribe  cites  some  facts  from 
ancient  and  contemporary  history  in  connection 
with  the  position  of  Ta-ts'in,  and  ingeniously 
works  in  interpretations  of  passages  five  hundred 
years  old,  so  as  to  leave  the  impression  that 
Nestorianism  (dates  from  431)  was  in  vogue  then, 

^  In  745  the  then  reigning  emperor  had  issued  a  decree  explaining 
that  it  had  been  pointed  out  to  him  how  Ta-ts'in,  and  not  Persia,  was 
the  true  place  of  origin,  and  ordering  that  in  future  the  Nestorians 
should  receive  the  more  correct  appellation. 


124  NESTORIANISM  [chap. 

as  also  that  the  words  "High  Virtue"  or  "Great 
Virtue"  were  used  in  the  sense  of  "priest"  before 
A.D.  lOO.  He  goes  on  to  say  that  the  next  emperor 
(649-683)  created  Alopen  "  Great  Lord  of  the  Law, 
Protector  of  the  State,"  and  that  the  new  rehgion  was 
preached  in  ten  Chinese  provinces.  But  the  usurp- 
ing dowager-empress  (698-700)  was  unfortunately- 
infatuated  by  the  Buddhists,  who  committed  certain 
shameless  acts ;  in  712  a  contemptible  group  of 
literates  made  sport  of  true  religion.  Happily, 
however,  two  noble  priests  from  the  West — one 
a  head- Buddhist,  and  the  other  a  "  Great  Virtue  " 
named  Kih-lieh — succeeded  in  remedying  this  sad 
state  of  affairs.  The  emperor  then  reigning  (712- 
756)  sent  one  of  his  generals  (a  eunuch,  died  762) 
to  place  portraits  of  the  five  preceding  monarchs 
in  the  temple.  Two  Buddhist  priests  and  a  Great 
Virtue  from  Ta-ts'in  were  invited  to  take  part,  with 
fourteen  others,  in  an  imperial  function  ;  and  in  the 
succeeding  reign  (756-762)  five  more  monasteries 
were  sanctioned.  The  next  emperor  again  (762- 
779)  always  made  a  point  of  presenting  incense 
and  food  to  the  monastery  at  Christmas-time  ;  in 
the  period  779-805  great  favour  was  shown  to  the 
distinofuished  bonze  I-sz  who  had  come  to  China 
from  Badaghis  (near  Herat),  and  had  been  with  our 
general  (died  781)  in  his  campaign  against  the 
Ouigours  (757-758)  ;  this  man  brought  presents 
of  glass  -  ware  and  gold  -  embroidered  tapestry. 
Religion  now  flourished  in  China  as  it  had  never 
flourished  before,  both  in  the  old  monasteries  and 


VI.]  DILUTED    DOCTRINE  125 

in  the  numerous  new  ones  ;  within  the  memories 
of  the  West  tah-so,  there  had  never  been  such 
a  brilliant  time ;  but  the  white  -  habited  king 
(Nestorian)  scholars  are  now  in  our  midst,  and  it 
is  desirable  to  commemorate  all  these  facts  on 
stone  (dated  781). 

Thus  the  celebrated  Nestorian  stone,  which 
shortly  afterwards  disappeared  during  troublous 
times  amongst  the  ruins  of  the  city,  and  was  not 
rediscovered  until  the  year  1623,  itself  informs  us 
with  absolute  precision  what  was  the  nature  of  the 
Christianity  introduced,  and  with  what  reception  it 
met  in  China  over  a  course  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  It  will  be  noticed  that  no  stress  is 
laid  upon  damnation,  the  sacraments,  confession, 
repentance,  the  sanctity  of  marriage  rites,  the 
Immaculate  Conception,  the  Crucifixion,  Passion, 
Resurrection,  life  everlasting,  and  many  other 
things  inseparable  from  the  belief  of  most 
Christians  of  the  present  day.  Of  course  it  is 
very  possible  that  King-tsing,  the  author  of  the 
inscription,  endeavoured  to  compose  a  record  which 
would  not  shock  Confucian  prejudices  more  than 
was  absolutely  necessary,  and  that  he  may  have 
deliberately  chosen  to  state  only  half  the  truth, 
leaving  out  all  dogmas  involving  apparent  de- 
parture from  the  ordinary  course  of  nature.  It 
is  also  likely  that,  as  he  was  bound  (in  the  absence 
of  any  other  ready-made  phraseology)  to  draw  upon 
Taoist  and  Buddhist  terms,  he  felt  it  prudent  to  avail 
himself  also  of  accepted  Taoist  and  Buddhist  ideas, 


126  NESTORIANISM  [chap. 

so  far  as  they  did  not  clash  with  his  own  teaching. 
Even  Manicheism  is,  or  seems  to  be  conciliated  ; 
for  the  "  function "  of  762  is  described  in  three 
words  signifying  "good  works"  {sui  -  kung  -  tek) 
which  twice  appear  in  connection  with  the 
Manichean  functions  and  functionaries  [kung-teh- 
sht)  of  843.  Besides,  the  white  garments  of  the 
tah-so  alluded  to  point  to  a  uniformity  with  the 
white  caps  and  clothes  of  the  Mani  priests.  All 
the  individuals  named  in  the  stone  inscription  are 
historical.  The  generals  who  died  in  762  and  781 
respectively  are  as  celebrated  in  Chinese  history 
as  Belisarius  and  Narses  are  in  Byzantine  history. 
The  eminent  statesman  charged  to  welcome 
Alopen  in  635  had  had  a  large  part  in  establish- 
ing the  new  T'ang  dynasty  in  618.  Even  the 
name  of  the  literary  scribe  King-tsing  has  been 
found  within  the  last  few  years  in  a  Chinese 
Buddhist  book  of  date  800.  It  appears  from  this 
book  that  King-tsing  (whose  real  name  was  Adam) 
was  a  Persian,  and  that  in  786  he  was  engaged 
with  a  Hindoo  priest  named  Prajfia  in  translating 
sUtras  from  the  Hu  lano-uagre  into  Chinese.  But 
the  Hindoo  knew  neither  Hu  (Persian)  nor  T'ang 
(Chinese),  whilst  Adam  did  not  understand  either 
the  fam  ( Brahm,  or  the  Sanskrit)  language  or  the 
Buddhist  principles.  The  result  was  that  the 
Emperor  ordered  Adam  to  confine  himself  to  the 
Mi-shih-a  (Messiah)  religion,  and  Prajfia  to  the 
sutras.  All  these  marvellous  discoveries  would 
possibly  have   remained    sealed   mysteries   for  ever 


VI.]  INDIAN    CHRISTIANS  127 

had  it  not  been  for  the  patience  and  ingenuity  of 
non-Chinese  students, — chiefly  French  or  Penin- 
sular Jesuits,  and  Japanese  Buddhists  trained  to 
European  ways  of  criticism.  Even  Kih-lieh  has 
been  identified  in  an  encyclopaedia  of  1013  as  a 
"Great  Virtue  bonze"  sent  from  Persia  to  China 
in  732.  The  stone  itself  applies  two  separate 
terms,  High  Virtue  and  Great  Virtue,  to  Alopen  ; 
at  first  sight  a  distinction  similar  to  that  between 
"Most"  and  "Very"  Reverend  might  suggest 
itself.  But  both  terms  are  Taoist,  and  Laocius  in 
turn  got  them  from  the  ancient  "Book  of  Changes" 
and  Rites  of  Duke  Chou,  Even  the  name  of 
Laocius'  Tao-teh  or  Way-Virtue  (classic)  comes 
from  the  venerable  "Book  of  Changes."  Great 
Virtue  bonzes  were  sent  to  China  from  Central 
India  in  731,  Kashmir  in  'j'^^'i^,  East  India 
in  "ji"],  Fuh-lin  (Syria)  in  719  and  742,  and 
Little  Balti  in  745  ;  from  which  it  is  plain 
that  Buddhism  and  Nestorianism  enjoyed  this 
"reverend"  title  promiscuously;  and  we  have 
seen  that  Adam,  the  Nestorian,  could  work  as  a 
colleague  with  Prajfia  the  Buddhist.  As  to  the 
word  tah-so,  this  seems  to  be  the  Persian  tarsd, 
"a  Christian,"  another  form  of  the  word  terzai 
which  has  already  been  discussed. 

Not  the  least  interesting  part  of  the  Nestorian 
inscription  is  the  Syrian  part,  which  has,  of  course, 
been  translated  by  competent  specialists.  The 
very  first  Chinese  words  telling  us  that  "  Kino-- 
tsing  composed  this  "  are  immediately  followed  by 


128  NESTORIANISM  [chap. 

the  Syrian  words  signifying  "Adam,  priest,  choir- 
bishop  and  pope  for  Sinestan  "  (China).  He  signs 
his  name  in  the  same  Syrian  terms  at  the  end  of 
the  inscription,  dating  it  "  time  of  the  Patriarch 
Hananjesu,  CathoHc  Lord,  Chief  over  the  Bishops." 
Even  this  man  has  been  identified  by  Renaudot 
with  Hananiechiiah,  the  Nestorian  patriarch  ;  more- 
over, the  standard  Chinese  histories  speak  of  the 
Po-tO'lih  (Patriarch),  or  King,  of  Fuh-Hn  sending 
a  mission  in  643.  The  Syrian  date  is :  "In  the 
year  1092  of  the  Greeks,  Jabezbujid,  Bishop  of 
Kumdan  (the  Arab  name  for  Si-an  Fu),  son  of 
MiHs  of  Balkh  in  Tokhara,  set  up  this  stone." 
According  to  Monsig.  Casartelli,  the  Bishop  of 
Salford,  Yasdbocet  is  a  well-known  Mazd^an  name 
in  Pehlvi  form,  meaning,  "  God  hath  deHvered." 

It  will  now  be  convenient  to  turn  back  for  a 
moment  and  enquire  how  far  the  competing 
religions — all  four  of  which,  it  must  be  remembered, 
had  come  from  Transoxiana,  and  by  the  same 
route — managed  to  hold  their  own  against  Taoism 
and  Confucianism.  The  first  emperor  (618-627) 
of  the  T'ang  dynasty  was  no  sooner  on  the  throne 
than  two  of  his  leading  statesmen  held  a  disputa- 
tion touching;  the  merits  and  demerits  of  Buddhism, 
the  particular  moot-points  being  renunciation  of 
parentage,  celibacy,  and  withdrawal  from  lay  work 
and  subjection.     One,   named  Fu  Yih,  said  : — 

"  Buddha  was  of  the  Western  Regions ;  his 
words  were  mischievous,  and  he  was  far  away 
from    us.     The    Han    dynasty   had.   unfortunately. 


The  AcbLunau  sLonc,  willi  h)riuc  inscription  at  foot. 

{By permission  of  l\cv.  A,  CoLOMliiii.,  S.J.) 

[To /ace  p.  128. 


VI.]  BUDDHISTIC   MIRACLES  129 

caused  the  Hu  books  to  be  translated,  and  had 
by  this  given  a  free  vent  to  Buddha's  false 
pretences,  thus  causing  disloyal  persons  to  cut  off 
their  hair,  and  to  give  a  mere  second  place  to  their 
prince  and  parents ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand, 
idle  vagabonds  donned  the  cowl  in  order  to  avoid 
the  usual  forced-labour  service.  They  trump 
up  a  system  of  three  inferior  transmigrations 
and  six  conditions  of  sentient  existence,  thus 
incitino'  infatuated  folk  to  q-q  on  a  wild-o-oose 
chase  after  virtue's  reward.  They  fear  no  pro- 
hibitory rules,  and  are  always  quite  ready  to  break 
the  laws  of  their  country." 

The  new  Tantra  Buddhist  power  of  Tibet 
was  just  then  beginning  to  assail  the  Chinese 
frontiers  (623),  and  this  fact  may  have  added 
to  the  alarm.  It  is  evident  that  the  corrupt 
form  of  popular  Taoism  was  now  organised  on 
separatist  principles  too,  for  the  result  of  the 
Confucianist  Fu  Yih's  denunciations  was  that  the 
executive  was  commanded  to  make  a  clean  sweep 
of  all  the  bonzes,  nuns,  and  Taoist  priests  in 
the    empire. 

It  appears  that  the  supreme  test  which  decided 
the  Emperor  was  the  failure  of  a  Western  bonze 
to  "strike  the  Confucianist  dead,"  as  he  boasted 
he  could  do,  by  holy  incantations :  he  himself 
collapsed.  Another  test  was  the  alleged  inde- 
structibility of  Buddha's  tooth,  which,  however, 
was  smashed  with  a  piece  of  antelope  horn.  The 
second  emperor,  who  afterwards  proved  so  liberal 
to  the  Persian  religions,  in  the  year  627  even 
ordered    the    execution    of    persons    who     should 


I30  NESTORIANISM  [chap. 

clandestinely  become  priests  or  nuns.  In  the 
absence  of  evidence,  it  is  therefore  permissible 
to  suppose  that  the  favour  shown  to  Manicheans 
and  Nestorians  in  621,  631,  and  635-8  was  partly 
in  consequence  of  Fu  Yih's  campaign,  for  he  died 
in  639  at  the  age  of  eighty-five.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  the  great  Buddhist  traveller 
Hiian  Chwang  returned  from  the  West  in  656, 
the  Emperor  gave  him  a  right  royal  reception, 
and  himself  wrote  a  preface  to  his  book. 

There  was  a  strain  of  Tartar  blood  in  the 
early  T'ang  emperors  on  the  maternal  side. 
Possibly  this  may  account  for  the  third  monarch 
having  taken  his  father's  concubine  out  of  a 
Buddhist  nunnery  to  which,  as  a  widow,  she  had 
retired  in  649.  This  Emperor  is  said  to  have 
sent  a  number  of  foreign  bonzes  back  to  India, 
and  to  have  forbidden  monks  and  nuns  from 
receiving  religious  adoration  from  their  own  parents. 
A  well-known  statesman,  travelling  on  circuit  in  the 
year  683  in  the  River  Yangtsze  region,  recom- 
mended that  the  "heterodox  places  of  worship" 
there,  numbering  over  1700  in  all,  should  be 
destroyed ;  but  it  is  not  on  record  that  any  of 
these  were  of  the  Persian  group,  or  that  the 
recommendation  was  actually  carried  out.  It  is 
on  record,  however,  that  Great  Virtue  Bonzes 
had  (about  710)  unauthorisedly  established  a 
monastery  at  Ting  Chou  (between  Peking  and 
T'ai-yiian  Fu.  The  usurping  dowager  mentioned 
in    the    Nestorian    stone    is    none    other    than    the 


VI.]  A   CHINESE   CATHERINE  131 

Buddhist    nun,  who,  on   the    death    of  her   second 
husband,      assumed      the      regency,      and      finally- 
deposed       her       step-son  :        she      then       reigned 
brilliantly,    if  corruptly,    in    her   own    name.     This 
strange     woman     soon     fell    under   the    scandalous 
influence    of    Buddhist    priests,    one    of    whom   at 
least    was    suspected     of    something    more     than 
spiritual     intimacy.       Another    tried     to    persuade 
her  that  she  was  the   Buddhist  Messiah,  and   that 
through    her  divine    person    China    now  possessed 
de    jure    the    lordship    of    Djamba   Dvipa    (India, 
Nepaul,     etc).        She     built    Buddhist    monasteries 
on    a  wholesale    scale,   squandered  forced  subscrip- 
tions   upon    a    gigantic    image,    and    caused   great 
indignation      amongst      the     Confucianists.       The 
statesman  last  referred  to  (died  700)  remonstrated 
very    strongly,   citing   as    a    warning   the  two    first 
emperors    of  the    Liang    dynasty  :    the    Dowager 
had    the    good    sense    to    accept    his    advice,    and 
stop    further    extravagances.        Her    foolish    step- 
son,    on     resuming     the    Throne     in    705,     issued 
commands    that   every    department    in    the    empire 
should  have  both  a  Buddhist  and  a  Taoist  temple  ; 
fresh    bonzes   and    nuns    appeared    on    every   side, 
and    there    was    no   end  to  the  eleemosynary  con- 
tributions.       It  was   remonstrated  that  srdmanira 
were    as    unable     to     bear    weapons    as    religious 
buildings    were    to    stave    off  the    people's  hunger. 
Curiously  enough,   Bilga  Khagan   of  the  Northern 
Turks    was    at    that    very   time    contemplating   a 
settled  life,  with  towns,  and    Buddhist   and  Taoist 


132  NESTORIANISM  [chap. 

temples,  after  the  Chinese  fashion.  His  old 
premier  Tunyukuk  strongly  dissuaded  his  master 
from  changing  the  old  free  nomad  habits  ;  "  besides, 
this  temple  business  is  meant  to  teach  people  kind- 
ness and  softness,  and  was  never  the  way  to  make 
war  and  get  strong."  This  incidental  remark 
proves  that  since  the  time  of  T'apur  Khagan 
(572-581),  who  was  converted  by  a  kidnapped 
sramana  from  North  China,  himself  submitted 
to  the  disciplines,  and  at  last  established  a 
monastery,  religion  had  made  no  headway  amongst 
the  Turks.  The  ancient  Turkish  custom  was  to 
worship  the  Spirit  of  Heaven  on  the  eighth  of 
the  fifth  moon.  Their  other  customs,  superstitions, 
and  relisfions  were  much  the  same  as  those  of  the 
Hiung-nu,  their  ancestors.  Moreover,  bilingual 
stones  erected  in  honour  of  both  Bilga  Khan 
and  his  minister  Tunyukuk  have  been  discovered 
on  the  River  Orkhon  during  the  past  twenty  years, 
an  event  leading  to  the  resuscitation  of  the  old 
Turkish  alphabet  and  language.  Nothing  is  said 
in  these  inscriptions  of  any  religion  or  temple 
except  of  the  ancestral  kind.  One  work  of  the 
eighth  century  says  the  Turks  in  their  worship 
of  the  hien  spirit  have  no  temples  or  shrines,  but 
keep  figures,  fashioned  out  of  felt,  in  skin  bags  : 
they  carry  these  with  them  for  receiving  sacrifice 
at  the  four  seasons,  smearing  them  over  with 
unguent,  and  sometimes  lashing  them  to  a 
stake. 

Yet     another     prominent     official    sent     up    a 


VI.]  RELIGIOUS   ABUSES  133 

significant  remonstrance.  This  was  the  governor 
of  T'ai-yiian  Fu  (in  Shan  Si)  where,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  807,  Manichean  temples  were  introduced. 
But  of  course  in  the  year  707  there  were  no  such, 
and  therefore  none  are  mentioned  in  the  remon- 
strance : — 

"  There  are  disorders  on  our  frontiers,  and 
we  are  hard  put  to  it  for  commissariat ;  whilst, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  heavy  expenditure  on 
Buddhist  monasteries  continues  to  be  unbounded. 
Our  ancient  princes  (see  Chapter  I.)  relied 
solely  upon  economy,  benevolence,  and  rectitude 
for  the  establishment  of  a  virtuous  reputation. 
But  from  the  Tsin  and  Sung  dynasties  (see  Chapter 
IV.)  onwards,  people  have  vied  with  each 
other  in  constructing  pagodas  and  temples  ;  whilst, 
on  the  other  hand,  anarchy  and  dethronements 
have  followed  in  wearisome  succession ;  all  of 
which  results  from  lavishing  the  affections  on 
mistaken  objects,  to  the  utter  misery  of  the  people. 
I  think  the  funds  collected  for  building  should  be 
diverted  to  the  purchase  of  warlike  equipments.  We 
shall  thus  stay  war's  alarms  for  ever,  and  at  the 
same  time  make  the  people  prosper.  In  what 
better  way  than  this  could  the  '  loving  commisera- 
tion '  and  '  universal  sympathy '  attributed  to 
Buddha  be  shown?"  And  another:  "Should 
drought,  flood,  or  Tartar  nomads  inflict  disaster, 
what  good  can  Buddha  do  us,  even  if  he  be 
willing  ? " 

In  the  year  714,  notwithstanding,  it  is  recorded 
that  princes  and  nobles  vied  with  each  other  in 
building  monasteries  and  in  taking  holy  orders : 
rich    families   and  sturdy  knaves   shaved  the  head 


134  NESTORIANISM  [chap. 

in  order  to  evade  the  calls  of  public  service.  It 
was  represented  that 

"  Buddhochinga  was  unable  to  preserve  the 
Hiung-nu  dynasty,  just  as  Kumarajiva  failed  to 
keep  alive  the  Tibetan  (see  Chapter  IV.).  Neither 
the  Liang  empire  in  the  south  nor  the  Ts'i  in 
the  north  escaped  disaster,  in  spite  of  their 
faith." 

It  was  a  sramana  from  this  same  Ts'i  who  had 
converted  T'apur.  The  Emperor  took  this  advice, 
prohibited  further  building  of  monasteries,  casting 
of  images,  or  copying  of  stitras  ;  12,000  persons  were 
got  rid  of ;  official  families  were  forbidden  to  consort 
with  bonzes  and  nuns,  and  in  future  such  persons 
had  to  be  certificated.^  According  to  the  Nestorian 
stone,  this  monarch  (a  Chinese  Louis  XV.  in  his 
profligacy  and  in  his  bien-aim^  qualities)  was  equally 
generous  to  Christians.  He  had  to  fly  from  his 
capital ;  for  the  recovery  of  his  throne  he  was 
largely  indebted  to  the  Ouigours,  to  whom 
he  had  to  give  his  own  daughter  in  marriage ; 
and  it  was  thus  that  the  Ouigour  Manicheans 
gained  further  influence  in  China.  This  Emperor's 
successor,  who  erected  five  fresh  Nestorian 
monasteries,  and  sanctioned  the  buildingf  of  four 
Manichean  temples  in  Central  China,  "  erected 
a  preaching  platform  in  the  inner  palace,  turned 
the    palace    folk    into    saints    ( Bodhisattva),    and 

1  The  tu-tieh,  or  "  salvation  licenses,"  were  only  abolished  by  the 
Manchu  Emperor  K'ien-lung  about  120  years  ago.  The  "Six  Tu" 
are  the  Paramita,  or  "  ways  of  salvation." 


VL]  A   CHINESE  DENOUNCER  135 

his  own  guards  into  Vadjrapani  ;  the  very- 
ministers  were  called  upon  to  do  obeisance  on 
their    knees," 

It  would  seem  from  the  Nestorian  stone  that 
Christians  enjoyed  a  short  innings  of  favour  about 
now.  It  was  during  the  time  (808-821)  when  the 
Manicheans  were  taking  a  leading  part  in  the 
later  Ouigour- Chinese  marriage  negotiations,  that 
the  well-known  Buddha's  bone  episode  took  place 
at  the  Chinese  metropolis.  The  archimandrite 
{kung-teh-sh'i)  of  a  certain  neighbouring  Buddhist 
monastery  had,  previous  to  this,  prevailed  upon 
the  Emperor  to  honour  one  of  Buddha's  finger 
bones  which  had,  for  a  long  time  back,  been 
exhibited  in  the  monastery  once  in  every  thirty 
years,  much  to  the  advantage  of  the  harvests  and 
the  country's  peace.  It  was  now  brought  with 
great  solemnity  to  the  capital ;  the  Emperor 
himself  went  out  to  meet  it,  kept  it  for  three 
days  in  his  private  apartments,  and  sent  it  round 
to  each  of  the  monasteries  in  turn.  The  celebrated 
statesman  Han  Yii's  masterly  philippic  upon  this 
piece  of  mummery  is  as  well  known  in  China  as 
Cicero's  denunciation  of  Cataline  is  known  all  over 
Europe.  Han  Yii  was  exiled  to  South  China ;  his 
memory  to  this  day  is  especially  green  at  and  near 
the  treaty  port  of  Swatow.  In  the  year  828  the 
reigning  emperor  imagined  he  saw  the  image  of  a 
saint  in  an  oyster  he  was  eating ;  he  therefore 
issued  a  manifesto  ordering  that  an  image  of 
Avalokites'vara  should  be   set  up  and  worshipped 


136  NESTORIANISM  [chap. 

in  every  monastery  in  the  empire.  This  led  eleven 
years  later  to  the  counting  of  bonzeries  and 
nunneries :  there  were  44,600  of  the  former 
buildings,  and  265,000  persons  in  the  latter. 
The  destruction  of  the  Manicheans  in  843  seems 
to  have  whetted  the  iconoclastic  appetite  of  the 
next  emperor  (brother  of  his  predecessor).  There 
may  have  been  more  in  it  than  a  mere  political 
desire  to  get  rid  of  Ouigour  influence,  for  the 
Emperor  had  a  liking  for  Taoism  ;  at  all  events, 
the  Buddhists  received  even  sterner  measures. 

"  The  Emperor,  disgusted  at  the  way  in  which 
monks  and  nuns  were  wasting  the  substance  of 
the  Empire,  gave  orders  that  two  monasteries 
should  be  allowed  to  remain  in  each  of  the 
capitals  —  upper  and  eastern,  —  with  an  average 
allotment  of  thirty  bonzes  for  each  ;  and  that  each 
military  centre  in  the  Empire  should  be  allowed 
one  monastery  ;  the  said  monasteries  to  be  grouped 
in  three  grades,  with  an  allotment  of  bonzes  accord- 
ingly ;  and  that  all  other  bonzes,  and  all  nuns, 
should  be  constrained  to  revert  to  lay  life.  All 
their  real  and  personal  property  was  confiscated 
to  the  State  ;  the  building  material  was  utilised  for 
ymnens  and  post-stages.  All  copper  images,  bells, 
and  clappers  were  to  be  melted  down  for  coin. 
More  than  4600  monasteries  were  thus  destroyed, 
whilst  260,500  monks  and  nuns  reverted  to  lay 
life.  Several  hundred  thousand  acres  (English) 
of  excellent  land  were  appropriated,  including 
150,000  male  and  female  slaves." 

It  is  uncertain  whether  any  Nestorians  were 
involved  in  this  trouble,  but  a  work  of  the  twelfth 
century  says  :    "In   845    the   Emperor  ordered  the 


VI.]  MODERN   SYRIAC   CHRISTIANS  137 

Ta-ts'in  muh-hu  great  hien  and  sixty  others  to  revert 
to  lay  capacity."  It  would  be  difficult  to  concoct 
a  more  ambiguous  sentence,  for  Ta-ts'in  is  Syria, 
the  Magi  are  Mazd^an,  and  "great"  hien  ("great" 
is  probably  a  misprint  for  "fire,"  which  hieroglyph 
closely  resembles  the  other  in  Chinese)  may  refer 
to  the  seventy  Manichean  nuns  we  know  to  have 
perished. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  in  this  chapter 
of  Great  Virtue  bonzes  being  sent  from  India  to 
China;  and  under  the  head  of  "Roman  Catholicism  " 
allusion  will  be  made  to  the  Malabar  Rites  question, 
of  1606,  and  to  Christian  missions  from  Quilon  at 
just  about  the  time  when  Mar  Sarghiz  was  founding 
churches  in  Chinkiang  and  Hangchow :  in  1328  one 
Jordanus  was,  in  fact,  made  Bishop  of  Columbum 
in  those  parts.  All  this  may  be  lineally  connected 
with  the  Syro- Chaldean  see  of  Ernaculam,  which 
was  detached  in  1896  and  placed  under  Bishop 
Parheparambil,  who  was  this  year  (1905)  on  a  visit 
to  Pope  Pius  X.  At  Puthenpally,  within  his  vicariat, 
he  has  a  printing  establishment,  known  as  the  Mar 
Thoma  Sliha  Press,  which  name  suggests  a  lineal 
descent  from  St  Thomas  of  Malabar.  Since  1846 
there  has  also  been  an  independent  Roman  Catholic 
(French)  Bishop  at  Mysore,  in  which  State  there 
are  15,000  native  Christians.  Careful  local  enquiry 
is  necessary  in  order  to  ascertain  if  there  is  any 
history  or  trustworthy  tradition  linking  these 
Christians  with  the  "Great  Virtues"  of  a  thousand 
years  ago.     It  seems  that  in   1596  the  Archbishop 


138  NESTORIANISM  [chap.  vi. 

of  Goa  had  already  brought  back  the  clergy  and 
people  from  the  schism  of  the  Syrians  into  unity 
with  the  Church,  but  had  left  to  them  their 
Chaldaean  liturgy.  However,  in  1838  Pope 
Gregory  XVI.  suppressed  the  Catholic  see  of 
Cranganore,  which  had  in  1605  replaced  the 
Syrian  see  of  Angamala ;  and  in  quite  recent 
times  the  Syrian  Christians  there  have  been  sub- 
ordinated to  the  Bishop  of  Verapoly  (a  Carmelite). 


CHAPTER   VII 

ISLAM. 

The  religion  which  has  taken  firmest  root  has  been  the  least  described. 
— Chinese  Mussulmans  a  serious  and  virile  class. — The  story 
begins  with  the  conquest  of  Persia  by  the  Arabs. — Embassy  to 
China  from  the  Caliph  Othman. — Chinese  historical  description 
of  the  Arabs  and  Mohammed. — Refusal  of  the  Arab  envoy  to 
kneel  except  to  Heaven. — Arab  and  Ouigour  rivalry  at  the  Chinese 
court. — Attack  upon  Canton  by  sea-borne  Arab  and  Persian 
soldiers  ;  resulting  possibility  of  there  being  early  mosques  at 
Canton. — Strange  silence  on  the  part  of  Chinese  historians. — 
First  Chinese  mention  of  the  only  word  meaning  "  Mussulmans." 
— How  a  confusion  arose  in  the  terminology. — General  sketch  of 
Mussulman  doings  during  the  Mongol  dynasty. — General  sketch 
of  Ouigour  doings. — No  reasonable  ground  to  confuse  the  two. — 
Disappearance  of  overt  Islam  from  China  during  the  Ming  dynasty. 
— Continues  in  vigour  along  the  land  and  sea  roads  from  Persia 
to  China. — Probable  quiet  infiltration  of  Islam  into  Yiin  Nan  and 
Kan  Suh. — Chinese  lesson  in  tolerance  to  mediaeval  Europe. — 
Mussulmans  under  the  Manchu  dynasty. — Priestly  caste  of  rulers 
under  Eleuth  suzerainty  gradually  replaces  the  old  Mongol  rulers. 
— Chinese  conquest  of  the  Mussulman  states. — Reaction  upon  the 
Mussulmans  (Dungans)  of  Chinese  race. — The  Salar  Mussulman 
malcontents. — The  Panthays  of  Yiin  Nan. — Character  of  Chinese 
Mussulmans  in  Manchuria  and  North  China. — The  mosques  of 
Canton. — Importation  of  Turkestan  Mussulmans  into  Peking  150 
years  ago.  Peking  mosque  and  imperial  dedication. — Extra- 
ordinary imperial  blunder  about  Ouigour  7ndni  and  Mussulman 
mollas. — Alleged  old  mosques  at  Nanking  and  Si-an  Fu. — General 
sketch  of  the  position  of  Mussulmans  in  China. — Comparison 
with  other  religions. 

It   is  a  remarkable  thing  that,  while  the   Chinese 
annals  are  clear  about  the  Persian  and  Babylonian 


I40  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

religions  which  came  and  went  during  a  couple  of 
centuries,  none  of  their  histories  record  a  single 
word  about  the  introduction  into  China  of  the 
Mohammedan  faith,  the  only  one  which  has  come 
to  stay,  and  has  taken  deeper  root  than  any  other 
foreign  teaching  introduced  from  those  parts  :  the 
numbers  of  Mussulmans  in  China  may  not  exceed 
those  of  Buddhists  ;  but  for  steadfastness  of  purpose, 
and  influence  on  the  social  and  moral  character, 
there  is  no  comparison  between  the  serious  Chinese 
Mussulman  and  the  superficial  Chinese  Buddhist. 
Buddhism  appeals  rather  to  the  women  of  China. 
The  Chinese  first  heard  of  the  Arabs  in  651, 
immediately  after  the  defeat  and  death  of  the 
Persian  King,  Yezdegerd,  when  the  flight  of  his 
son,  Piruz,  to  China  (i.e.  Tokhara)  evidently  made 
the  Mussulman  conquerors  anxious.  An  embassy 
from  Othman — or  "King  Emir-al-mumemin "  as 
the  Chinese  endeavour  to  put  it  in  their  awkward 
phonetic  character — sent  a  tribute  mission,  announc- 
ing: that  he  ruled  over  the  Tazih,^  "  which  state 
had  already  existed  under  two  successive  rulers 
for  thirty-four  years."  The  Chinese  histories  of 
the  period,  in  describing  the  Tazih,  mention  the 
veiling  of  their  women,  and  the  worship  five  times 
a  day  of  the  Spirit  of  Heaven.  "There  is  a  rites- 
hall  (mosque)  holding  several  hundred  people  ; 
every     seven     days     the     king     sits     aloft,     and, 

^  It  has  not  yet  been  absolutely  proved  whether  the  Persian  word 
for  "trader"  or  "nomad"  is  primarily  meant;  but  it  seems  to  be 
generally  agreed  that  Tazih  in  effect  represents  the  Persian  word  for 
"  Arabs,"  whichever  of  the  two  it  be. 


VII.]  ARAB   CONQUESTS  141 

preaching  to  the  people,  says  :  'He  who  dies  in 
battle  is  born  in  Heaven  above  ;  he  who  kills  an 
enemy  receives  bliss.' "  They  then  proceed  to 
describe  the  rise  of  Mohammed  at  "  Medina 
Mountains";  the  "Black  stone"  (Kaaba),  and 
the  prophecies  which  moved  him  to  action  ;  these 
events  are  put  down  to  a  period  embraced  within 
the  Chinese  reign  605-617.^  "He  grew  powerful, 
extinguished  Persia,  and  broke  up  Fuh-lin " — 
evidently  alluding  to  Khalid's  taking  of  Damascus 
in  635  and  to  the  battle  of  KadisTya  in  637,  of 
course  after  Mohammed's  death  in  632.  "South 
he  assailed  the  Brahm," — as  the  Chinese  had  always 
styled  the  Punjaub  region  ;  probably  referring  to 
the  events  of  676.  "  K'ang  and  Shih  all  went  to 
him  as  vassals  ;  east  were  the  Tiirgas."  These  are 
the  Chinese  names  for  Samarcand  and  Tashkend  ; 
Ziyad  crossed  the  Oxus  against  the  Turks  and 
Samarcand  in  or  about  the  year  676  ;  the  Tiirgas 
(so-called  in  the  Turkish  inscriptions  too)  were  a 
branch  of  the  Western  Turks.  In  the  year  713 
another  Arab  mission  came,  and  the  envoy  declined 
to  kneel  to  the  Emperor  on  the  ground  that  "the 
men  of  our  state  only  kneel  to  Heaven,  and  do 
not  kneel  before  the  king."  There  was  some 
angry  discussion  on  this  point,  and  a  conciliatory 
statesman  endeavoured  to  mollify  the  ruffled  emperor 
by  pleading  Qtwt  homines,  tot  sententiae ;  however 
the  envoy  did  under  severe  pressure  kneel  after 
all.       The    rest    of    Arab    history    down    to    the 

This  error  in  date  is  explained  lower  down. 


142  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

succession    of    the   Black    Clothes    (Abbassides)    is 

told   with    as    much   accuracy  as    one    has    a    rio-ht 

to    expect.       The    Arabs    defeated    at    Talas    the 

Corean  general  in  command  of  the  Chinese  armies 

of  the  West  in  751.     Abu  Djafar^  is  said  to  have 

lent  China  some  troops  in  756-757  to  cooperate  with 

the  Ouigours  in  rescuing  China  from  her  difficulties. 

/      In  758  the  Arabs  and  the  Ouigours  had  a  squabble 

about  precedence  at  an  imperial  audience,  when  a 

suitable    compromise    was    devised.       In    the    same 

year  the  Arab  and  Persian  soldiers  and  merchants 

at  Canton  conspired  to  attack  the  city,  which  was 

abandoned   by   the    Governor.     We    may   conclude 

from    this    that    there    may   have    been    Mazdean, 

Manichean,  and  Arab  places  of  worship  at  Canton 

and  other  coast  ports  ;  but,  if  there  were,  we  know 

nothing  specific  of  them  as  yet.      In  the  year  798 

/  envoys    from    the    ruler    Harun    once    more    went 

through  the  kneeling  process.     The  above  slender 

sketch    comprises    everything    specific   and    certain 

■^         that   we  can    gather   from    Chinese   history,    or,   in 

fact,  from   Chinese   works   of  any  sort,   concerning 

the    Mohammedan    religion    up    to    the    time    of 

Genghis  Khan  (say   1200). 

It  has  been  stated  by  several  European  writers 
that  a  monument — somewhat  similar  to  the  well- 
authenticated  Nestorian  tablet — has  in  recent  times 
been  discovered  at  Si-an  Fu,  bearing  the  date  742, 
and  stating  some  of  the  facts  just  cited  about  the 

1  The  Chinese  character  for  this  far  or/er  is  exactly  that  used  for 
Fanngh  (Fuh-hn  or  Franks). 


VII.]     MODERN  CHINESE  WORKS  ON  ISLAM    143 

earliest  penetration  of  Islam  into  China ;  but  no 
one  has  yet  come  forward  to  say  that  he  has 
himself  seen  such  alleged  tablet ;  nor  can  any  of 
the  Europeans  who  allude  to  it  give  any  better 
authority  for  their  statements  than  the  very 
modern  (and  only)  Chinese  works  devoted  to  a 
study  of  the  Mussulman  question,  none  of  which 
date  farther  back  than  1651,  and  all  of  which  bear 
evidence  of  defective  or  imaginative  workmanship. 
It  is,  of  course,  possible  that  it  may  have  been 
the  policy  of  the  officially  recognised  historians,  or 
of  the  emperors  under  whose  segis  their  works 
were  always  published,  to  conceal  or  slur  over  facts 
connected  with  foreigners  which  it  might  at  some 
future  date  prove  politically  inconvenient  to  have 
on  record.  At  least  two  first  -  class  Chinese 
historians  have  been  emasculated  as  a  punishment 
for  talking  too  freely  about  royal  follies  and  obscure 
royal  origins ;  but,  in  view  of  the  frankness  with 
which  Turkish,  Tibetan,  Japanese,  Corean,  and 
other  foreign  politics  have  been  invariably  dis- 
cussed, it  is  difficult  to  see  why  the  more  distant 
Arabs  and  their  religion  should  have  created  more 
alarm  than  the  much  nearer  Persian  beliefs.  The 
real  explanation  is  probably  this  :  Tibet,  and  later, 
the  powerful  Tibeto  -  Tartar  kingdom  of  Tangut 
north  of  Tibet,  for  many  centuries  formed  a  barrier 
between  China  and  the  West,  until  Genghis  Khan 
started  upon  his  wonderful  career  of  conquest  by 
first  subduing  Tangut.  To  put  it  in  another 
form — between  the  fall  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  (907) 


144  ISLAM  [chap 

and  the  reuniting  of  most  of  China  under  the  Sung 
dynasty  (960),  lacerated  China  had  no  time  to 
think  of  religion  or  distant  policy  ;  and  during  the 
300  years  of  Sung  rule  (960-1260),  the  Cathayan, 
Nuchen,  and  Mongol  Tartars  in  succession  governed 
as  rival  emperors  north  of  the  Yellow  River.  The 
more  southerly  Sung  dynasty  from  its  inception 
was  in  principle  unwarlike,  literary,  and  peace- 
loving  ;  entirely  opposed  to  unnecessary  expansion. 
Its  relations  with  the  Arabs  were  extensive,  but 
almost  entirely  mercantile,  and  by  the  sea  routes. 
A  quiet  penetration  of  Mussulman  principles, 
especially  at  the  coast  ports,  is  not  unlikely  to 
have  run  its  unobtrusive  course ;  but,  however 
that  may  be,  for  300  or  more  years  after  the 
Caliph  Hariin-al-Rashid's  mission  to  China  in 
798,  not  a  single  word  is  said  about  any  Arab 
religion,  about  any  of  the  Turkestan  states  having 
adopted  or  been  forced  to  accept  Islam,  or  about 
even  the  mere  fact  that  a  name  existed  for 
"  Mussulman,"  which  name  solely  and  exclusively 
has  existed  in  that  sense  for  nearly  800  years 
past.  Mussulman  history  begins  with  the  year 
1 1 24  ;  history  never  mentions  a  name  previous  to 
that. 

The  following  are  the  facts  on  historical  record. 
When  the  Cathayans  lost  their  empire  in  North 
China  to  the  Niichens,  one  of  the  Cathayan  princes 
mustered  all  the  forces  he  could,  and  determined 
to  found  an  empire  in  Persia.  On  arrival  at  Kan 
Chou  (Marco  Polo's   Campichu),  he  reminded  the 


VII.]      A  CONFUSION  IN  NOMENCLATURE      145 

Hwei-huh  (Ouigour)  king  reigning  there  that  for 
over  ten  generations  he  had  enjoyed  the  patronage 
of  Cathayan  suzerains  ;  "  I  am  now  about  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  Tazih,  and  want  a  road  through  your 
dominions,  etc."  Bilga  Khan  offered  him  every 
hospitahty.  Then  he  went  on  to  Samarcand, 
fought  various  battles,  and  after  subduing  several 
states  "received  at  Samarcand  the  submission 
and  tribute  of  the  Hwei-hwei  (Mussulman)  king." 
The  use  of  this  word  does  not,  of  course,  create 
the  word  Mussulman  ;  but  as,  ever  after,  the  word 
means  exclusively  "  Mussulman,"  the  effect  is  the 
same.  The  modern  Pekingese  put  a  final  r  at 
the  end  of  most  nouns  as  a  diminutive,  and  when 
this  is  done,  the  final  vowel  or  nasal  is  often 
modified.  Thus  Hwei-hur  and  Hwei-kwer,  freely 
uttered,  are  as  indistinguishable  as  our  sounds 
sailor  and  sailer.  Hence  when  150  years  ago 
the  Manchu  Emperor  K'ien-lung,  after  conquering 
the  Turkestan  states,  and  establishing  a  mosque 
for  the  captive  Mussulmans  in  Peking,  looked  up 
his  history  of  Ouigour  relations  with  China,  he 
officially  announced  to  his  people  that  "the 
Mussulmans  now  amongst  us,  are  the  identical 
Mussulmans  (Ouigours)  who  came  with  mullas 
(Mani)  iioo  years  ago."  Thus  the  not  unnatural 
confusion  between  two  different  ideas  has  received 
imperial  sanction ;  the  second  confusion  of  the 
word  mulla  with  the  word  Mani  is  proved  by 
the  imperial  dedication  being  written  in  Turkish, 
Mongol,  and  Manchu  as  well  as  in  Chinese.     But 

K 


146  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

it  is  plain  from  the  Cathayan  history,  quoted  above, 
that,  650  years  before  the  Manchu  emperor's 
mistake,  the  fugitive  Cathayan  prince  visited  or 
saw  first  the  Ouigour  Khagan  Bilga,  and  then  the 
Mussulman  king  (probably  of  Otrar),  at  intervals 
of  several  weeks ;  and  this  at  places  thousands 
of  miles  apart,  but  in  the  same  year.  There 
is  another  point.  Although  the  sign  hwei  of 
"Ouigour"  may  be  the  same  as  the  reduplicated 
sipfn  hwei  of  "  Mussulman,"  still  it  need  not  be 
so,  and  the  oldest  form  was  not  so  ;  on  the  other 
hand  the  hwei  of  "Mussulman"  has  never  once 
varied.  It  is  useless  to  speculate  why  the  Mussul- 
mans were  so  called ;  but,  if  conjecture  is  to  be 
allowed,  then  M.  Deveria's  conjecture  that  the 
Moslems  are  in  the  habit  of  addressing  each 
other  as  "brother"  khouya  (plural  khaoua)  e.g., 
ya  khouya,  "my  brother,"  is  as  suggestive  as  any. 
The  reason  why  in  1 1 24  the  fugitive  Cathayan 
was  making  for  Persia  (where  remains  of  his  tomb 
still  exist)  is  that  in  924,  when  the  founder  of  the 
Cathayan  empire  conquered  the  Ouigours,  he 
"received  tribute  missions"  from  the  Arabs  and 
Persians  on  the  River  Orkhon.  This  manifestly 
means  that  the  foreign  traders  already  there  had 
hastened  to  signify  their  submission.  In  1020  the 
reigning  Caliph  sent  a  real  mission,  begging  that 
a  Cathayan  princess  might  be  given  in  marriage 
to  his  son.  Persia  did  not  continue  official  relations 
with  Cathay,  and  indeed  she  had  for  long  dis- 
appeared as  a  separate  political  entity,  and  was  a 


VII.]  MARCO   POLO'S   SARACENS  147 

prey  to  Samanide,  Ghaznevide,  Seldjuk,  and  other 
Turks,  so  far  as  she  was  not  directly  under  the 
Caliphs'  rule.  Thus  the  Cathayan  prince  of  1 1 24 
had  historical  ties  in  the  West,  and  was  simply 
making  his  way  through  a  number  of  petty  states 
to  the  only  great  empire — Tazih — which  lay  to  the 
west  of  North  China. 

It  is  known  in  a  general  way  that  Islam  spread 
over  Central  Asia  during  the  ninth  and  tenth 
centuries,  and  that  the  Ouigours  (known  to  the 
Mohammedan  writers  as  ''Eastern  Turks") 
extended  their  empire  during  the  same  period 
far  away  west  to  the  Caspian  ;  but,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge  from  Chinese  history,  their  religion  in 
the  eastern  parts  continued  on  old  lines,  and  in 
the  few  instances  where  it  is  mentioned  at  all, 
the  notice  clearly  refers  only  to  Buddhism  or 
Brahmanism.  But  from  the  moment  (i  203)  Genghis 
Khan  commenced  his  struggle  with  ''  Prester  John  " 
of  the  Keraits  (who  had  previously  fled  through 
the  Ouigour  country  to  the  Mussulman  country), 
and  passed  on  to  the  conquests  of  Otrar,  a  flood 
of  Mohammedans  of  all  kinds,  Arabs,  Persians, 
Bokhariots,  converted  Turks  —  and  doubtless 
Ouigours — passed  freely  to  and  fro,  and  scattered 
themselves  gradually  over  China  itself,  in  a  way 
they  had  never  done  before  ;  for,  as  Marco  Polo 
and  Chinese  history  both  tell  us,  the  Mongols 
could  not  trust  the  native  Chinese  with  high 
office.  Marco  Polo,  also  frequently  mentions 
the  "  Saracens,"  and  their  hostility  to  other  sects, 


1/ 


148  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

at   various    places    on    the    route     from     Persia   to 
China ;    and    this    vague    word   of  his   corresponds 
to    the    equally   vague    Chinese    word   Hwei-hwei. 
Although  the  history  of  the  Mongol  dynasty  (1200- 
1368)     is    carelessly    written,     more    especially    as 
concerns    foreign    proper     names,    there    does    not 
seem  to  be  one  single  instance  of  this  word  being 
used  to  signify  specifically   "  Ouigour,"  or  to  mean 
anything    except     "  Mussulman."       On    the    other 
hand,   many    prominent   generals    and    ministers  of 
the    Mongol    Khans,    who    from    their   names    and 
acts    are    manifestly    Mussulmans,    are    occasionally 
stated    to    be    of   Ouigour    nationality.       Of   these 
the  celebrated  Achmat  (of   Marco   Polo)  was  one, 
but  it  is  said   "of  his  provenance  nothing  whatever 
is    known."       The    explanation,    or    at    least    the 
inference,    naturally    is    that     many    Ouigours    had 
either      before      or     during     Mongol     domination 
accepted    Islam.      The    Mongols    themselves   seem 
to     have      perceived      the    awkwardness     of     this 
confusing  nomenclature,  at  least    if  we  may  judge 
from     the     "spelling"     adopted    in    their     annals, 
which   probably    record   at    each    date    the    written 
form  used  in  the  documents  filed  at  such  successive 
date,    and    subsequently  copied    by    the    historian. 
At     first    they    wrote    Hwei-ho-r,     but    gradually 
they   adopted   a   quite  new  form,  which  could  not 
possibly    be    confused     with    the     word     meaning 
"  Mussulman " ;    this    new    form    was     Wei-wu-r. 
In    1262,    after   the  accession  of   Kublai    Khan,   a 
decree      appears       ordering      that      Musu-aiman 


vii.]  KUBLAI   KHAN'S   TIME  149 

(Mussulmans),  Hwei-ho-r  (Ouigours),  and  other 
persons  (named)  of  foreign  religion,  shall  do 
their  share  of  military  duty.  In  1270  the  Hivei- 
hwei  of  all  provinces  were  ordered  to  serve  in  the 
army ;  this  points  to  there  being  members  of 
that  religion  already  widely  scattered ;  for  the 
whole  of  China  was  by  this  time  conquered.  In 
1 27 1  a  Mussulman  observatory  was  established 
at  Peking,  with  a  Persian  named  Djamal-uddin 
at  the  head  of  it ;  the  following  year  it  was 
ordered  that  the  Mussulman  almanac  should 
not  be  sold  without  proper  authorisation.  In  1272 
a  Medical  Hall  was  started  at  Peking  by  the 
Mussulman  Aisie  (perhaps  Isaiah)  from  Fuh-lin ; 
his  sons  bore  the  names  of  Elias  and  Gioro-is. 
Mussulman  gunners,  Ismail  and  others,  attained 
great  notoriety,  having  come  from  Persia  with 
their  whole  families  post  haste  to  Peking  in  order 
to  assist  at  the  siege  of  certain  towns.  In  1280 
the  Emperor  displayed  great  indignation  because 
the  Mussulmans  in  his  suite  or  on  his  service 
caused  distress  to  the  people  by  declining  to  eat 
mutton  which  had  not  been  slaughtered  by  them- 
selves. In  1282  both  Mustiman  and  Erkun'^ 
(Mussulman  and  Christian)  chiefs  at  Quilon  in 
India  send  missions  to  Kublai.  In  1284  Hwei- 
hwei  and  Wei-wu-r  are  both  placed  on  a  Mongol 
footing  as  regards  their  capacity  to  serve  as  district 
governors.  In  1289  a  Mussulman  High  School 
was      established,      and     about     200     Mussulman 

^  This  term  is  explained  in  Chapter  IX. 


I50  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

families     were     given     parcels     of    land     in     Ho 
Nan   province.     In    1290    occurs  a  passage   which 
may    possibly     explain     the     mysterious     Persian 
term     Dungan,     or     "  Chinese     Mussulman,"     the 
origin    of  which  has  for  very  many  years   puzzled 
students    of   Asiatic   history ;    in     that     year     3000 
Thtg-kie-r    Mussulman     families     were     supplied 
with     cattle     and    seed  —  unfortunately    no    further 
details  are  given.     The  same  year  it  was  recom- 
mended    to     Kublai     by     one     Shab-uddin     that 
the    punishment   of  branding   and    cutting   off  the 
hand  at  the   wrist   should    be    introduced    to   meet 
cases   of  peculating    government    stores.       Kublai 
said :     "  This    is     the     Mussulman    practice,"    and 
declined  to  sanction  it.      In   1297  the  Mussulmans 
were  ordered  to  farm  the  taxes  on  trade  in  China 
proper.      In    131 1    the    Mussulman    observatory    is 
again      mentioned,     and     certain     limitations     are 
placed   on    the    right   of  those    of  the   Mussulman 
shuh    (craft)    to  visit  the  private  houses  of  princes 
and    ministers;    certain     Mussulman    hati   (?hadji) 
who    "pray    for    happiness,"    are    also    alluded    to, 
as    also    a    bureau    to    which    they    were   attached. 
In     132 1     a     Mussulman    monastery   at    Shang-tu 
{"  Xanadu,"    or    Upper    Capital,    near    the    present 
Dolonor   or     Lama-miao)    was    destroyed,    and    its 
glebes  were  given  over  to  the  Tibetan    patriarch. 
In    1328    the    "Bureau  of  the  hati  managing  the 
concerns    of  their    religion "  was    suppressed ;    but 
it    was    found    that  many  of  the    Mussulmans  had 
been    implicated    with    one   Abdullah   and   others 


VII.]  THE   LATER   OUIGOUR   TURKS  151 

executed  for  treason  ;  however,  the  innocent  were 
told  not  to  be  afraid,  and  to  resume  their  occupa- 
tions in  peace.  In  1340  the  Mussuhnans  and 
Chi-u  (emsiles  (Jews)  were  prohibited  from  marrying 
with  their  uncles.  In  1354  the  Mussulmans  and 
Shuh-hu  (Jews)  were  ordered  to  take  part  in  the 
defence  of  the  tottering  empire. 

Not  only  is  the  term  Hivei-hwei  (which  seems 
to  be  called  Miisu-ai-man  or  Mttsu-man  only  or 
usually  in  allusion  to  sea-coming  Mussulmans)  used 
absolutely  always  in  the  single  sense  of  "  Mussul- 
mans " ;  but  it  is  manifest  that  all  the  science 
and  art  of  the  West  came  solely  through  them. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Ouigours,  besides  from 
first  to  last  beinof  named  in  the  same  sentences 
as  being  different  persons  from  Mussulmans  (except 
when  they  happen  themselves  to  be  Mussulmans), 
are  mentioned  in  senses  which  show  that  they  were 
quite  a  different  class  of  people.  Thus  the  Ouigour 
script,  which  the  Mongols  are  known  to  have 
first  used,  and  which  is  also  known  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  Syriac,  was  in  1272  replaced, 
so  far  as  imperial  decrees  were  concerned,  by  the 
newly-invented  Mongol  script.  In  1275  and  1287 
certain  game  laws  were  established  for  Ouigour 
land.  Bishpalik  is  frequently  mentioned  as  a 
Ouigour  centre,  and  the  Ouigour  kings  are  often 
given  their  well-authenticated  title  of  Idikut.  In 
1 28 1  a  Mongol  history  was  published  in  Ouigour 
character;  in  1286  the  same  thing  was  ordained 
for    Genghis    Khan's   history.      In    1283    a   distin- 


152  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

guished  Ouigour  and  Buddhist  had  a  dispute  with 
and  defeated  a  Western  bonze  in  connection  with 
astrology.  In  1310  Ouigour  bonzes  were  impHcated 
in  a  conspiracy.  In  1324  the  Tibetan  sutras  were 
translated  into  Ouigour  character,  and  in  1331 
sutras  in  ©old  Ouio^our  letters  are  mentioned.  In 
1329  Ouigour  bonzes  were  ordered  to  conduct 
certain  Buddhist  services.  In  1336  the  Emperor's 
mother  is  stated  to  have  been  a  Ouigour ;  and, 
as  the  empire  gradually  collapsed,  the  Idikuts 
faithfully  marched  their  troops  east  to  try  and 
save  it. 

Thus  it  is  quite  clear  that,  so  far  as  Mongol 
history  is  concerned,  there  may  be  an  excuse  for, 
but  there  is  no  real  ground  for  the  oft-repeated 
plea  that  "Ouigour"  and  "Mussulman"  run  into 
each  other  and  become  one.  It  is  true  that  more 
than  one  Manchu  emperor  may  have  thought  so,  and 
that  many  distinguished  European  sinologists  have 
followed  them  into  the  trap  ;  but  all  is  clear  when 
sufficient  patience  is  exercised.  It  will  be  con- 
venient to  recur  to  the  subject  when  the  Jews 
are  discussed. 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  word  "  Mussulman  "  occurs 
more  than  once  during  the  three  centuries  of  indulgent 
native  Chinese  rule  (Ming  dynasty,  1368- 1673),  at 
least  in  connection  with  inland  affairs.  This 
dynasty,  for  the  first  hundred  years  at  least,  was 
particularly  active  in  fostering  the  sea  trade  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  from  Africa  to  the  Malay  States  ;  and, 
of  course,   most   of  these   states   were   Mussulman. 


VII.]  ISLAM    IN    HIGH    ASIA  153 

Mussulman  interpreters  accompanied  the  Chinese 
eunuch  envoys  in  charge.  In  1407  there  was 
founded  an  Interpreters'  College,  the  duty  of  which 
was  to  prepare  and  translate  tribute  addresses, 
commands  to  vassals,  and  rules  for  foreign  envoys. 
The  Arabo  -  Persian  department  dealt  with  the 
affairs  of  Samarcand,  Arabia,  Turfan,  and  Hami, 
which  two  latter  kingdoms  were  still  partly,  if  not 
wholly,  under  Ouigour  rule.  It  is  repeatedly  said, 
however,  that  in  consequence  of  their  having 
been  so  long  under  Mongol  rule,  these  principalities, 
and  especially  Hami,  had  three  contending  parties 
among  the  population,  the  Hwei-kwei  (Mussulman), 
Wei-wu-r  (Ouigour),  and  Hala-hwei  (not  identified, 
but  possibly  Karluks)  :  the  Mussulman  party  was 
very  powerful,  and  apparently  often  interfered  very 
effectually  in  matters  of  succession,  diplomacy,  and 
so  on.  One  of  the  neighbouring  towns  is  stated 
to  have  belonged  formerly  "  to  the  Mussulman " 
country — probably  referring  to  some  part  under 
Tamerlane's  influence.  One  of  the  contending- 
Turfan  -  Hami  princes  was  named  Achmat ;  and, 
curiously  enough,  Hami  (through  which  nearly  all 
missions  from  the  West  passed)  is  accused  of 
"blocking  the  tribute  road  of  the  Hivei-heh''  (old 
term  for  Ouigours)  of  the  Western  Regions,  who 
would  therefore  appear  to  have  been  detached 
from  the  easterly  Buddhist  group.  A  long  account 
of  Tamerlane's  empire  is  given — Samarcand,  Herat, 
etc.  ; — the  fast  of  Ramadan  is  described ;  and 
mention  is  made  of  certain  officials  called  ddwwan. 


154  ISLAM  [chap. 

In  the  paragraphs  devoted  to  Arabia,  an  account 
is  given  of  Mohammed  and  Ismail  (evidently 
Ismael,  the  supposed  progenitor  of  the  Arabs)  ; 
but  the  scrappy  way  in  which  the  Mussulman 
faith  is  described  proves  that,  however  common 
Mohammedans  may  have  been  on  the  high  road 
to  China,  scarcely  anything  was  known  of  them 
in  China  itself.  We  may  therefore  say  that, 
up  to  the  advent  of  the  Manchu  dynasty  260 
years  ago,  the  history  of  Islam  in  China,  save  for 
what  is  said  above,  is  a  complete  blank.  If  the 
faith  spread,  as  it  probably  did  quietly,  wherever 
Abbassides  and  Ouigours  had  fought  side  by 
side  with  the  Chinese  armies — e.g.  in  Yiin  Nan 
and  Kan  Suh  provinces — no  more  official  notice 
was  taken  of  it  than  was  taken  of  Catholicism 
in  England  previous  to  the  Emancipation ;  of 
Protestantism  in  Spain  previous  to  the  recent 
policy  of  bare  toleration  ;  or  of  the  Mormons  in 
America  until  they  became  a  public  nuisance.  At 
no  period  in  China  has  "conscience"  ever  been  in 
the  faintest  degree  persecuted,  so  long  as  State 
policy,  municipal  convenience,  and  popular  senti- 
ment were  in  no  way  flouted.  In  this  matter  we 
Europeans  have  scarcely  had  competence  to  teach 
China  any  historical  lessons  in  philosophy. 

No  sooner  was  the  Manchu  dynasty  firmly 
seated  on  the  throne  of  China,  than  "the  Mussul- 
man states  and  Arabia  sent  tribute"  (1645).  This 
laconic  announcement  almost  certainly  refers  to 
the  Kuche,  Yarkand,  Khoten,  and  Kashgar  group, 


VII.]  MANCHUS    AND    ISLAM  155 

usually  known  to  us  cumulatively  as  Little  Bucharia  ; 
during  the  Ming  dynasty  these  had  developed  a 
Mohammedan  life  under  their  old  Mongol  Khans 
quite  beyond  the  Chinese  sphere  ;  latterly,  it  appears 
under  the  suzerainty  of  the  Eleuths  of  Hi,  but  more 
immediately  under  the  supreme  rule  of  a  certain 
Mahmud  and  his  descendants,  who  are  supposed 
to  have  come  from  Bagdad,  and  to  have  been  direct 
representatives  of  the  prophet ;  the  tribes  about 
1640  began  to  desert  the  old  Mongol  Khans  in 
their  favour.  Even  before  this  (1622)  the  Jesuits, 
Schall  and  others,  had  been  appointed  by  the  last 
emperor  of  the  Ming  dynasty  to  the  Astronomical 
Board  at  Peking,  where  it  seems  that  Mussulmans 
had  for  ages  been  employed  as  men  of  science. 
At  all  events,  in  1657,  a  Mussulman  holding  a 
position  on  that  Board,  in  denouncing  the  methods 
of  Schall,  informed  the  Emperor  that,  "  1059  years 
ago,"  eighteen  men  from  the  western  regions 
had  brought  to  China  the  Mussulman  calendar, 
and  their  descendants  had  ever  since  assisted 
China  in  astrological  matters.  The  second  Manchu 
emperor,  K'ang-hi,  had  to  conduct  in  person  several 
wars  against  the  Eleuth  Tartars ;  during  the 
course  of  these,  in  the  year  1696,  the  prince  of 
a  Mussulman  State  named  Abdul  Ishtar,  or  Ishid, 
who  had  been  sixteen  years  a  hostage  or  captive 
amongst  the  Eleuths,  took  advantage  of  his 
escape,  after  the  defeat  of  the  Eleuths  by  the 
Manchus,  to  offer  the  latter  the  assistance  of 
20,000  Yarkand  Mussulman  troops.     These  events 


156  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

led  the  Emperor  to  enquire  amongst  the  Mussulman 
officers  of  his  entourage  if  any  of  them  were  aware 
why  they  and  their  co  -  religionists  were  called 
Hwei-hwei.  It  turned  out  that  no  one  had  the 
remotest  idea.  Then  it  was  that  K'ang-hi,  who 
was  of  an  extremely  scientific  and  enquiring  turn 
of  mind,  handed  them  a  document  (it  is  not  said 
of  whose  composition)  telling  the  story  of  how  in 
the  year  628  the  Emperor  of  the  T'ang  dynasty 
had  had  a  dream  of  a  turbaned  man  from  the 
West,  which  led  him  to  send  a  mission  to  Hami, 
in  order  to  learn  whether  the  interpretation  of 
his  dream  was  correct ;  from  which  place  in  due 
course  an  envoy  came  to  explain  the  mysteries 
of  the  Koran  ;  in  consequence  of  which  the 
Emperor  showed  great  favour  to  the  new 
religion.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  the  Chinese 
pilgrim,  Hiian  Chwang,  in  629  visited  Hami  (a 
Turkish  possession,  which  was  not  then  called 
Hami,  nor  yet  for  600  years  after  that), 
and  found  it  strictly  Buddhist,  the  whole  story  is 
manifestly  an  adaptation  of  the  a.d.  62  dream 
about  Buddha,  and  the  mission  to  India.  More- 
over the  date  628,  as  also  the  "  1059  years  ago" 
of  1657  {i.e.  599),  proves  that  the  greater  number 
of  Mussulman  lunar  years  as  compared  with  the 
lesser  number  of  Chinese  solar  years  since  the 
Hegira  in  622,  and  since  the  death  of  Mohammed, 
in  632,  had  caused  the  Mussulman  Chinese  story- 
makers  to  concoct  false  dates.  In  1755,  after  the 
complete  and   final   crushing  of  the   Eleuth  power 


VII.]  YAKUB   BEG'S   EMPIRE  157 

by  the  Emperor  K'ien-lung-,  grandson  of  K'ang-hi, 
it  was  found  necessary  for  China's  safety  to  take 
possession  of  the  Mussuhiian  states  of  Little 
Bucharia ;  this  brought  on  a  war  with  the  two 
grandsons  (Borhan-uddin  and  another)  of  the  above 
mentioned  Abdul,  scions  of  the  Mahmoud  race  of 
the  Khodjo  (as  they  were  called) — a  priestly  caste. 
All  this  brouofht  China  into  closer  contact  with 
Kokand,  Bokhara,  Badakshan,  Affghanistan,  and 
the  network  of  Andijan  trade  intrigues.  Between 
1820  and  1828  the  great  Mohammedan  rebellion 
under  Jehangir,  son  of  Samsak,  son  of  Borhan- 
uddin,  broke  out,  immediately  connected  with 
which,  again,  was  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  Andijan 
Yakub  Beg's  Kashgar  state  in  1864- 1873.  All 
these  Mussulman  complications  were,  of  course, 
beyond  the  pale  of  China  proper ;  yet  they 
successively  reacted  upon  the  Dungans,  or  Chinese 
Mohammedans,  farther  east.  For  instance,  in  1647- 
1659  a  serious  Mussulman  rebellion,  caused  at  the 
outset  by  the  indecent  behaviour  of  Manchu 
soldiers,  broke  out  in  the  Kan  Chou  (Polo's 
Campichu)  region,  and  spread  to  Shan  Si.  In  1781- 
1783  there  were  quarrels  about  the  proper  w^ay  of 
reciting  the  Koran  between  the  old  Mussulmans 
and  Reformed  Mussulmans  of  the  Si-nincj  region 
near  Kokonor,  which  led  to  severe  repression,  some 
bloody  fighting,  and  terrible  imperial  butcheries ; 
after  the  suppression  of  the  revolt,  the  Reformed 
religion  was  interdicted  as  a  political  measure  in 
order  to  obviate  further  disputes;  but  in   1863  the 


158  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

same  Mussulmans  once  more  broke  out  into  serious 
rebellion  in  sympathy  with  the  movements,  first  of 
Burzug  Khan,  heir  of  Jehangir,  and  then  of  Yakub 
Beg  and.  his  friends.  Only  eight  years  ago  there 
was  yet  another  alarming  insurrectionary  movement 
amongst  the  Mussulmans  of  the  Si-ning  region, 
which  was  finally  quelled  by  the  notorious  General 
Tung  Fuh-siang,  later  of  "  Boxer  "  fame.  In  fact, 
the  "Salar"  Mussulmans  of  those  parts,  originally 
recruited  from  Hami,  have  always  formed  a  nest 
of  disaffection.  Then,  of  course,  the  Panthay 
rebellion  of  i860- 1873  is  fresh  in  the  recollection 
of  middle  -  aged  persons  interested  in  Chinese 
questions ;  the  causes  of  this  terrible  war  were 
in  themselves  small,  yet  the  result  was  the  utter 
devastation  of  the  province  of  Yiin  Nan,  One  of 
the  leading  Mussulman  chiefs  of  this  period  had  in 
1842  made  an  interesting  pilgrimage  to  Mecca, 
which  is  on  record  ;  of  course  it  then  gave  him 
great  political  influence.  Even  now  it  is  by  no 
means  an  uncommon  thing  for  Chinese  Mussulmans 
from  distant  interior  provinces  to  travel  thus  by 
way  of  Burma;  in  fact,  "Panthay"  is  simply  a 
corrupt  average  form  of  the  Burmese  words  for 
"Mussulman"  and  "Chinese-Mussulman,"  and  the 
son  of  the  Panthay  sultan  is  still  a  British  pensioner 
at  Rangoon. 

As  to  Manchuria  and  North  China,  Mussulman 
Chinese  are  an  exceedingly  numerous  and  law- 
abiding  race,  more  thrifty,  manly,  and  self-respecting 
than  the  average  "lay"  Chinese.     They  are  to  be 


VII.]  MOHAMMED'S    UNCLE  159 

found    in     Kirin,    Potune,     Alchuk    (Harbin),    and 
Sansing  ;  indeed  a  quarter  of  the  Alchuk  population 
is   Dungan — perhaps    1 800  families  ;    socially,    they 
keep  a  good  deal  aloof  from  the  ordinary  Chinese. 
In  many  parts  of  Chih  Li  province  the  Mussulmans 
have  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  inn  and  cart  trades, 
probably  because  their  scruples  about  slaughtering 
meat   render    it    necessary   for  themselves,   as   cart 
contractors,  that  they  should  keep  the  inns.     They 
do  not  intermarry  (formally)  with  pagans,  and  are 
strict  on  the  subject  of  pork, — practically  the  only 
meat  of  other  Chinese.     In  Canton  there  is  a  well- 
known  Mussulman  pagoda  which  popular  tradition 
and  vulgar  Mussulman  literature  says  was  erected 
by    Mohammed's    uncle     Saad    Wakkas,    who    is 
supposed  to  have  come  to  China  in  611,  to  have 
constructed  mosques  at  Canton  and  Nanking,  and 
to  have  died  at  Canton.     As  a  matter  of  fact,   it 
has    been   proved    by    M.    Deveria   that   this    man 
actually    took    part   in    the    identical    battle    which 
practically  put  an  end  to  the  Sassanides  in  Persia 
(636) ;    that  he   was  a  second  cousin  only  (in  the 
generation  of  uncles)  of  Mohammed,  and   that  he 
died  at  Medina,  never  having  been  near  China  at 
all.     There    are    half-a-dozen   mosques  at    Canton, 
five    inside   the    walls ;    and    if    the   one    of    which 
striking  remains  in  the  shape  of  a  leaning  pagoda 
still  exists  was  really  built  during  the  T'ang  dynasty 
(which  we  have  shown  to  h^  prima  facie  very  likely), 
it  was  destroyed   by  fire    in    1343,   and   rebuilt  in 
1350  by  one  Mahmud,  at  the  close  of  the  Mongol 


i6o  ISLAM  [chap. 

dynasty.  An  Arabic  inscription,  dated  135 1,  states 
that  it  was  rebuilt  in  the  751th  year  (Hegira). 
The  Chinese  inscription  below  says  nothing  of 
Saad  Wakkas,  but  vaguely  mentions  that  "about 
800  years  ago,  the  religion  developed  itself  here." 
After  the  defeat  of  Borhan-uddin  and  Khodjo 
Jehan  in  1759,  a  number  of  Mussulman  prisoners, 
including  a  beautiful  Kashgar  girl  for  the  Emperor, 
were  brought  in  triumph  to  Peking.  A  mosque 
was  constructed  in  a  street  close  to  the  Palace 
wall,  and  in  1764  the  Emperor  wrote  with  his  own 
hand  the  Chinese  dedication,  reproduced  on  stone, 
which  also  appears  in  Manchu,  Mongol,  and  Turkish 
translations;  the  last  alone  being  horizontally  written. 
Here  it  is  that  the  Emperor  (who  besides  being 
a  smatterer  in  philology,  distinguished  himself  by 
disfiguring  the  three  Tartar  histories  through  a 
course  of  tampering  with  the  "spelling"  of  foreign 
words),  deliberately  tells  the  world  that  li-pai-sz^ 
(the  ordinary  word  for  "mosques")  really  began 
with  the  Hwei-heh,  who  first  began  to  come  to 
China  in  581-600,  and  who  obtained  in  807  per- 
mission to  erect  at  T'ai-yiian  a  sz  for  the  Mani 
who  brought  tribute  along  with  them.  This  extra- 
ordinary statement  is  (or  was)  repeated  on  a  sixth 
mosque  outside  the  north  wall  of  Canton,  where 
the  remains  of  Saad  Wakkas — visited  in  1749 
by  one   Hadji   Mohammed  also   buried   there — are 

^  The  word  li-pai  was  first  used  of  Buddhist  "worship"  ;  thence 
it  came  to  mean  "  weekly  worship,"  and  now  it  is  the  only  Chinese 
name  for  "  Sunday,"  "  Sabbath,"  and  "  a  week." 


VII.]  MUSSULMAN   DISSENSIONS  i6i 

supposed  to  lie.  According*  to  the  Chinese  books 
on  Islam,  none  of  which  have  a  high  reputation 
for  accuracy,  and  few  of  which  are  more  than 
200  years  old,  there  are  also  some  old  mosques 
in  existence  at  Si-an  Fu  and  at  Nanking  (probably 
referring  to  the  old  Ouigour  temples  at  Ch'ang-an, 
and  certainly  to  Nanking  as  it  was  previous  to 
the  T'ai-p'ing  rebellion).  One  of  the  Si-an  Fu 
mosques,  which  had  been  frequently  repaired  during 
the  Sung  Mongol  and  Ming  dynasties,  is  said  to 
state  that  it  stands  on  the  site  of  one  originally 
built  in  742  ;  but,  as  no  European  has  seen  either 
the  mosque  or  a  rubbing  of  the  inscription,  and 
as  we  have  seen  that  the  very  emperors  of  the 
present  dynasty  are  untrustworthy  authorities  on 
Islam,  it  is  unnecessary  to  hazard  further  remarks. 
There  are  no  statistics  of  Mohammedans  in 
China ;  but,  having  from  the  first  taken  the  position 
of  trading  guests,  abstaining  from  dogma  and 
aggressive  proselytism,  and  simply  courting  the 
favour  of  protection,  the  followers  of  the  Prophet 
have  rarely  caused  "objective"  trouble;  their 
White-cap  (Sunnite)  and  Red-cap  (Shiite)  rivalries 
are  quite  subjective,  and  confined  among  them- 
selves, while  their  resigned  fatalism  and  con- 
servative tendencies  do  not  often  run  counter  to 
Confucianism.  "  Know  thyself  and  thou  knowest 
God "  might  have  been  translated  word  for  word 
from  Taoism.  Belief  in  a  Supreme  Being  is  in 
accord  alike  with  ancient  teachings,  Taoism,  and 
Buddhism  ;  even  the  doctrine  of  predestination  and 


1 62  ISLAM  [CHAP. 

God's  absolute  decree  shocks  no  Chinese  elementary 
principle.     Resurrection  and   a    Day  of  Judgment 
were  quite  new ;  Hell  and  Paradise  were  presented 
in  new  and  material  forms  ;   but,  being  treated   in 
vague  and  general  terms,   these  novelties  do    not 
menace  the  public  peace  of  mind.     Moreover,  the 
Koran  does  not  seem  to  have  ever  been  translated 
into  Chinese,  and  the   native   Imams  and  Mollahs 
are  as  often  as  not  quite  ignorant  of  the  meaning 
of  the   Arabic  characters  they  are  taught   to   read 
aloud,  just   as    the    bonzes   glibly  chaunt    Sanskrit 
prayers  in  unmeaning  Chinese  phonetics.     Though 
the  reverence  due  to  ancestors  is   manifested  in  a 
different  manner  from  that  in  general  Chinese  vogue, 
yet  the   fact   that  such  a  duty  is  recognised  at  all 
by  the  Mussulmans  gives  them  a  respectable  status 
in  the   Chinese   cultivated    mind,   and   the   general 
spirituality  of   Islam   is    quite   above    the    ignorant 
classes.     Be    that   as    it   may,   the   undoubted   fact 
remains   that   Chinese   Mussulmans  have  from   the 
very    beginning    played    their    cards    so    prudendy 
that  there  has  never  been  a  single  spiritual  perse- 
cution,    or    a    persecution     pretexted     by    alleged 
immorality  or  corruption  on  the  part  of  the  priests, 
who,  moreover,  not  being  celibates,  and  not  herding 
in   monasteries,   have   never   been  exposed   to   the 
suspicions  and  temptations  of  bonzes  and  Buddhist 
nuns :  besides,  polygamy  and  the  general  treatment 
of  women  are  viewed  almost  eye  to  eye,   from  a 
Mussulman  as  from  a  Chinese  point  of  view.     In 
a  word,  Islam  is,  and  always  has  been,  tamed  and 


VII.]  TOLERANCE   TOWARDS    ISLAM  163 

subdued  in  China,  except  perhaps  at  the  two 
centres — Yiin  Nan  and  Kan  Suh — where  Arabs  and 
Ouigours  have  been  directly  introduced  as  soldiers  ; 
and  being  on  a  footing  of  equality,  if  not  superiority, 
have  formed  fanatical  hot-beds  of  disaffection. 
Mussulmans  in  China  have  never  been,  and  are 
not  now  at  all  disqualified,  by  reason  of  their 
religion  alone,  from  holding  any  post,  however 
high,   open  to  ordinary  Chinese. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE    JEWS 

May  be  said  to  have  disappeared  with  the  year  1900. — Persian  Jews 
arrive  in  1163;  positive  evidence. — Stone  tablet  records  descent 
from  Adam,  Abraham,  Moses,  etc. —  Tao  once  more  introduced  to 
explain  the  doctrine. — Dates  from  the  Chou  dynasty. — Jewish 
fasts  commanded.  —  The  first  synagogue  at  K'ai-feng  Fu.  — 
Repaired  during  Mongol  rule. — Ming  dynasty  tolerant  towards 
the  Jews  ;  they  repair  the  synagogue. — Destroyed  by  a  flood. — 
Native  Jewish  comparison  of  Judaism  with  other  religions. — 
Trims  the  faith  to  suit  Chinese  ideas. — Evidence  of  Persian 
origin  ;  other  Jews  said  to  be  in  China. — Transmission  through 
Noah,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses,  and  Aaron,  to  Joshua  and 
Esdras. — Further  compromise  with  Chinese  doctrines,  and  claim 
for  higher  antiquity  in  China.— Destruction  by  inundation  at  the 
close  of  the  Ming  dynasty. — Rebuilding  of  the  synagogue  under 
the  Manchu  rule. — No  real  evidence  of  any  Judaism  in  China 
anterior  to  1163. — How  Ricci  300  years  ago  first  heard  of  these 
Jews;  and  of  others  at  Hangchow.  —  Pere  Trigault's  special 
opportunities  for  examining  the  Nestorian  and  Jewish  stones. — 
Protestant  Bishop  of  Hongkong  sends  to  make  enquiry. — Some 
of  the  Jews  come  to  Shanghai. — Disappearance  of  the  synagogue. 
— Rev.  W.  A.  P.  Martin  himself  visits  the  Jews  in  1866. — 
Unsympathetic  attitude  of  the  Moslems. — Total  degeneration  of 
the  last  surviving  Jews. — Effects  of  the  T'ai-p'ing  rebellion. — 
Other  recent  visitors  to  the  site. — More  Jews  visit  Shanghai,  and 
the  Jewish  merchants  there  take  the  matter  up. — Scrolls  and 
other  valuables  placed  in  museums  under  British  control.  — 
Arabic  words  for  "  Christian "  and  "  Jew." — Turkish  race  for 
2000  years  a  link  between  religious  China  and  religious  Europe. — 
Clue  by  which  we  can  trace  the  Jews  of  the  Mongol  dynasty. — 
Mussulman  independence  contrasted  with  Jewish  suppleness. 

The  Jews  may  be  said  to  have  disappeared  from 

164 


CHAP.  VIII.]     CURIOUS  JEWISH  "HISTORY"         165 

China  with  the  nineteenth  century,  and  with  the 
publication  in  the  year  1900  of  their  official 
obsequies  by  the  Jesuit,  Pere  Jerome  Tobar.  Yet, 
strange  to  say,  the  history  of  their  arrival  in  China 
from  Persia  in  1163  (Sung  dynasty),  since  when 
they  have  lived  in  almost  complete  seclusion  and 
obscurity,  is  as  clear  and  positive  as  the  coming 
of  the  first  Moslems,  now  counted  perhaps  in  the 
whole  of  China  by  tens  of  millions,  is  lost  in  the 
mistiness  of  oblivion.  The  authority  is  of  the 
highest,  being  nothing  less  than  the  original  stones 
of  1489  and  15 12  (Ming  dynasty),  and  that  of  1663 
(present  Manchu  dynasty),  commemorating  the 
rebuildings  and  repairs  of  the  synagogue  in  which 
they  were  found ;  moreover,  they  are  still  in  sitil. 
The  first  inscription  begins  by  stating  that 
Abraham,  "founder  of  the  Israel  religion,"  was 
nineteenth  in  descent  from  Adam  (as  stated  in  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Chronicles),  none  of  the  inter- 
vening patriarchs  between  those  two  having 
worshipped  idols  or  believed  in  any  but  one  God. 
Abraham,  observing  that  the  tao  of  Heaven  did 
not  speak,  set  himself  to  draw  it  out  from  God 
by  faithful  service,  and  thus  founded  the  religion 
as  transmitted  to  this  day.  After  over  500  years 
of  successive  transmissions,  the  true  religion  came 
to  the  charge  of  Moses,  who  retired  to  Mount 
Sinai  in  order  to  seek  the  Scripture  amid  fasting 
and  prayer.  All  this  took  place  during  the  Chou 
dynasty  (b.c.  1122-206,  —  a  chronology  which 
requires    elucidation) :    and    so    things    went  on   up 


i66  THE   JEWS  [chap. 

to  Esdras,  a  descendant  of  the  first  patriarchs. 
The  tao,  or  "way"  to  honour  Heaven,  though 
obvious  in  itself,  needs  to  be  based  upon  the  overt 
acts  of  li-pai  (rite-kneeling),  and  on  the  principles 
of  ts'ing-chen  (purity-truth).  Heaven  must  be  for 
ever  present  to  the  mind  ;  and  the  tao  of  Heaven, 
though  without  form,  is  always  there  above,  if 
only  we  pursue  it  with  our  hearts.  After  this 
follows  a  further  dissertation  upon  tao,  proof  that, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Nestorians,  every  effort  has 
been  to  accommodate  the  new  religion  so  far  as 
possible  to  Chinese  notions.  Thus  Adam  is  styled 
'' P'an-ku  Adam,''  P'an-ku  being  the  legendary 
Chinese  "creator"  as  adopted  from  fiction  by  the 
literary  men  of  the  Sung  dynasty  ;  and  there  are 
various  quotations  from  the  "  Book  of  Changes," 
other  ancient  classics,  and  even  popular  ouranology. 
Stress  is  then  laid  upon  the  duty  of  making 
offerings  to  ancestors  in  the  spring  and  autumn, 
purification,  good  works,  and  fasting.  The  seventh 
day  closes  each  round  of  observances ;  however, 
the  question  of  resting  from  labour  on  that  day 
is  prudently  omitted.  But  there  is  a  vague  allusion 
to  "  seven  days'  fasting  at  the  four  seasons,  in 
commemoration  of  our  patriarchal  ancestor's  tribula- 
tions," which  may  possibly  refer  to  the  four  fasts 
enumerated  by  Zechariah. 

The  inscription  goes  on  to  say  that  Jewish 
traditions  ascribe  the  immigrants'  origin  to  India 
(a  term  in  which  the  Chinese  often  include  parts 
of  Ta-ts'in  and  of  Persia),  whence  seventy  families 


VIII.]  THE   SYNAGOGUE    IN   CHINA  167 

came  by  command  (it  is  not  stated  of  whom)  with 
tribute  of  foreign    cloth    to    Sung.     The   Emperor 
invited  them  to  stay  at  Pien-liang  (then  the  capital ; 
now  K'ai-feng  Fu  in   Ho  Nan).     In  the  year  1163 
the    ustdd^    Levi    was    in    charge,    and    Am-tu-la 
Q  Abdullah)  built  the  first  synagogue.     In  the  year 
1279    of  the    Mongol    Emperor    Kublai    the  ustdd 
rebuilt  the  place,  or   Ts'ing-cMn  Sz  ("  Purity-truth 
Monastery")  as   it  was  called.     On  the  advent  of 
the    Ming   dynasty    (1368),    the    founder    granted 
liberty    to   all    who   submitted    to   his    will,    and   a 
certain     number     of     mivan-la     (mollahs)^     were 
appointed    to   the    charge.     In    the   year    142 1    the 
second    Ming    emperor    presented    the    synagogue 
with   some    incense,    and    authorised    its    extensive 
repair ;    tablets    in    honour    of    the    Emperor    (for 
monthly   worship)   were   placed   within   it,   and  the 
front  part  of  the  work  was  completed  by  the  year 
1445.     A   flood  of  the   Yellow    River  in   the  year 
1 46 1   did  immense   damage,  but   funds  and  official 
sanction  were  obtained  to  rebuild  on  the  devastated 
site  ;  and  the  whole,  including  the  back  parts,  was 

1  M.  Deveria  has  shown  that  the  Chinese  word  wu-sz-tah  (or  tat) 
is  the  Persian  ustdd  (or  usta)^  which  stands  for  Rdb,  or  "  rabbi "  as  we 
say  in  English  ;  as  we  shall  see,  in  1282  a  word  like  it  is  applied  to  a 
Christian  sending  envoys  from  India. 

'-'  Mohammedan  mosques  are  also  often  called  "  Purity-truth 
Temples"  ;  the  supposed  742  mosque  at  Si-an  Fu  is  so  termed  by  the 
professed  authorities  for  its  existence  ;  and,  curiously  enough,  one 
Abdullah  repaired  it  in  1127.  In  1482  its  name  was  changed  by 
request  to  TsHng-siii  Sz,  or  "  Purity-effort  Temple."  As  the  Jews  are 
popularly  called  "Sinew-plucking  Moslems,"  it  is  possible  to  see  in 
all  this  a  Mussulman  attempt  to  share  and  exceed  the  moderate 
antiquity  of  the  Jews. 


i68  THE   JEWS  [chap. 

magnificently  reconstructed.  Meanwhile  more 
sacred  books  had  been  procured  from  NIngpo  (in 
those  times  a  place  of  Japanese  trade),  and  large 
subscriptions  were  made  amongst  the  Jews  in 
order  to  provide  the  necessary  furniture  and 
ornaments.  Finally  the  composer  of  the  inscription 
indulges  in  a  few  general  reflections  ;  he  says  : 

**  The  three  teachings  (religions)  have  each 
their  way  of  honouring  their  lord.  The  literates 
honour  Confucius  in  their  Halls  of  Great  (Musical) 
Perfection  ;  the  S'akya  honour  [S'akya]  Muni  in 
their  Halls  of  the  Sacred  Effigy  ;  the  Taoists  {le. 
the  modern  degenerates)  have  their  Jewel  Emperor 
Hall  (dates  from  1116,  1600  years  after  Lao-tsz' 
death).  So  those  of  Purity-truth  have  their  Israel 
Hall,  where  they  honour  August  Heaven." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  absence  of  all 
mention  of  Manicheans,  Nestorians,  and,  above 
all,  of  Mussulmans,  who,  if  they  existed  then  in 
that  city,  were  probably  as  hostile  as  they  are 
now,  when  they  are  known  to  be  numerous.  Then 
he  goes  on  to  say  : 

"  Confucianists  and  ourselves  in  the  main  believe 
the  same  thine,  but  differ  in  detail ;  the  essential 
pomts  of  both  parties  being  to  respect  the  tao  of 
Heaven,  to  honour  our  ancestors,  be  loyal  to  our 
princes,  dutiful  to  father  and  mother,  kind  to  wife 
and  children,  content  with  our  grade  in  life,  and 
sociable  with  friends  ;  in  a  word,  we  do  not 
ignore  any  of  the  Five  Relationships  (of  the  Book 
of  Rites)." 

Here  follow  some  political  remarks  flattering 
to  the  Ming  dynasty. 


VIII.]  ABRAHAM,  ISAAC,  AND  JACOB  169 

The  second  stone  of  1512  once  more  enters 
into  the  question  of  Jewish  tao  from  the  Chinese 
classical  point  of  view,  but  contains  little  of 
historical  novelty.  The  authors, — officials,  and 
evidently  not  all  Jews, — condense  the  history  of 
the  synagogue  as  given  in  the  earlier  stone,  but 
add  a  few  new  touches  of  their  own.  Thus,  Adam 
came  from  the  Western  Regions  (a  term  always 
applied  to  West  Asia)  of  India;  the  first  Jewish 
Scriptures  date  from  the  Chou  dynasty  ;  the  four 
local  copies  {i.e,  the  three  originally  there  and  the 
Ningpo  copy)  are  divided  into  fifty-three  sections 
(Persian  Jews'  computation).  "The  original  faith 
has  been  in  China  since  Han  times  (b.c,  206-A.D. 
220)."  The  followers  of  this  religion,  it  appears, 
are  to  be  found  in  other  places  besides  Pien  (K'ai- 
feng  Fu) ;  but,  wherever  they  may  be,  they  revere 
the  same  Scripture  and  the  same  tao.  Then  after 
a  long  dissertation  and  comparison  the  authors 
give  us  a  few  more  historical  facts  : — "  After  the 
Creation,  the  first  patriarch  Adam  transmitted  to 
Noah,  who  in  turn  transmitted  to  Abraham." 
'Raham  (thus  euphoniously  contracted,  and  written 
with  the  Buddhist  sounds  for  Arkdn)  passed  it 
on  to  Isaac,  who  did  the  same  to  Yahakuvuh 
(Jacob).  'Kuvuh  transmitted  to  the  Twelve  Tribes, 
whence  in  due  course  to  Moses  and  Aaron.  Aaron 
transmitted  to  Yiie-shu-wo  (Joshua),  and  'Shu-wo 
to  Esdras,  from  whose  time  the  religion  obtained 
a  brilliant  development. 

The    third    inscription    dates    from     1663,    the 


I70  THE   JEWS  [CHAP. 

second  year  of   K'ang-hi    (Manchu   dynasty),   and 
introduces  one  or  two  new  surprises.     Adam  was 
nineteenth  in    descent    from    P'an-ku,   and    Arhan 
taught  his  people  to  do  God's  will  with  their  whole 
heart,  and  also  to  do  their  utmost  to  discover  tao. 
Then    follows    a    lengthy    sermon    on    filial    piety, 
Heaven,  prayer,  sacrifice,  purification,  and  fasting, 
in  which  the  "  Book  of  Changes"  and  the  Chinese 
classics  are  raked  for  apt  allusions.     Moses  is  dis- 
covered  to    have  thought  out   the    Chung-yung  or 
Golden    Mean    of    Confucius.     The    religion   was 
first  preached  in  China  during  the  Chou  dynasty, 
"and"  (evidendy  with  the  intention  of  suggesting 
"  when ")   the  synagogue   was  erected  at  Ta-liang 
(another  name  for   Pien,  or  Pien-liang).     Through 
the   Han,   T'ang,    Sung,   and   Ming  dynasties  (b.c. 
206-A.D.    1644)  there  have  been  many  vicissitudes, 
but    no   swerving    from    the    true    doctrine.      The 
synagogue    was    built    by    Am-tu-la    in    1163,    and 
rebuilt  by  an  Ustad  in  the  Mongol  year   1356  {sic). 
It  was  destroyed  by  the  flood  of   1461,  and  again 
rebuilt.     At  the  close  of  the  Ming  dynasty  (1642) 
the  rebels  and  the   imperial    troops    both    cut   the 
banks   of    the    Yellow    River   with    the    object   of 
damaging  each  other  ;  the  city  was  flooded,^  100,000 
persons    were    drowned,    and    the   synagogue    was 
again  destroyed.     In  1646,  under  the  first  Manchu 
emperor,    the    books   saved    from    the    fiood    were 

^  P^re  Martin  Martini  in  1656  gives  an  account  of  this  flood; 
many  Christians  perished,  including  the  European  priest  Robert  de 
Figuereido,  who  decUned  to  abandon  his  flock. 


VIII.]  SUSPICIOUS  "HISTORY"  171 

collated  and  placed  for  temporary  safety  in  a  hired 
dwelling  ;  meanwhile  a  military  officer  of  the  Jewish 
religion  exerted  himself  to  recover  the  situation, 
and  in  1653  steps  were  taken  to  rebuild  once  more. 
There  are  various  other  lengthy  details,  in  which 
the  term  mwait-la  (mollah)  twice  occurs  ;  but  there 
is  nothine  further  of  grreat  historical  interest.  In 
ten  years  the  place  was  finished  and  this  third 
stone  inscription  set  up. 

Nothing   could    thus    be    clearer   than    the   fact 
that  for  500  years  the  Jews  had  flourished  peace- 
ably at  K'ai-feng  Fu  ;    the  statements  about  their 
earlier  arrival  during  the  Chou  dynasty  are  self-con- 
tradictory, the  later  inscriptions  manifestly  ranking 
in  value   below  the  earlier,  from   which  they  were 
necessarily   inspired ;    perhaps    the    allusion    in    the 
first   to    Abraham  and    Moses   "  during   the    Chou 
dynasty,"   (who,  according  to  the  usually  accepted 
chronology,  both   lived  before  even  the  beginning 
of  the   Chou   dynasty),   caused   the  authors  of  the 
two    later    to    believe    that    the    earliest    Chinese 
Jews  came  in  the  Chou  or  Han  dynasties.     Pious 
aspirations,   are,  of  course   no   evidence,  and   there 
is   no   tittle  of  real  evidence  to   be  found  that  any 
Westerners,  still   less  any  Western   religion,   came 
to  China  before  the  Chinese  themselves  discovered 
the   Oxus   region   in   b.c.    130-120.     The  fact  that 
Buddhists    really    did   arrive   in    a.d.  67    has    most 
likely   been   mentally   extended,   as   in    the  case  of 
the   later  literature  on    Islam,  to  cover  more  than 
stern    evidence    will    justify ;    even    the    Catholics 


172  THE   JEWS  [CHAP. 

(Missions  Etrangeres)  avail  themselves  of  this 
Buddhist  event  to  turn  it  into  a  Christian  one  in 
their  teaching  manuals.  But  the  questions  still 
remain,  How  was  all  this  about  the  1163  Jews 
found  out  by  Europeans,  and  What  has  become 
of  these  Persian  Jews  since   1663? 

When  the  Jesuit  Matthew  Ricci  was  in  Peking 
three  centuries  ago,  he  was  visited  by  a  Chinese 
Jew  who  had  heard  of  his  arrival  in  China,  and 
had  taken  the  opportunity  of  an  official  visit  to 
Peking  to  call  and  see  if  he  perchance  belonged 
to  their  faith,  seeing  that  report  said  he  was  no 
Mussulman,  and  yet  worshipped  a  single  God. 
He  told  Ricci  that  there  were  twelve  families  of 
Israelites  at  K'ai-feng,  and  that  they  possessed  a 
fine  synagogue  (this  was,  of  course,  before  the 
disaster  of  1642),  with  a  scroll  of  the  Law  over 
five  hundred  years  old  ;  he  added  that  there  was 
another  synagogue,  with  a  still  larger  number  of 
Jewish  families  at  Hangchow.  Scattered  over 
other  parts  of  China  there  were  yet  other  fragments 
of  Jewish  communities,  who,  for  want  of  meeting- 
places,  were  gradually  being  absorbed  by  the 
pagans.  Ricci  at  once  sent  some  native  Christians 
to  make  enquiry  at  K'ai-feng,  and  found  that  the 
story  of  Mr  Ngai  (one  of  the  family  names  of  the 
1 163  immigrants)  was  in  the  main  quite  true.  Pere 
Nicholas  Trigault,  who  had  been  in  Peking  for  a 
short  time  in  16 10,  the  year  of  Ricci's  death, 
was  stationed  at  K'ai-feng  Fu  in  1623.  Leaving 
Figuereido  in  charge,   he  proceeded   to  Si-an    Fu, 


VIII.]     CHRISTIAN  INTEREST  IN  THE  JEWS     173 

where  he  was  the  first  European  to  see  the  cele- 
brated Nestorian  Stone  discovered  in  1623  ;  during 
his  stay  in  K'ai-feng  he  must  have  had  opportunities 
of  inspecting  the  Jewish  inscriptions  too,  and  possibly 
also  the  synagogue  of  Hangchow,  where  he  died 
in  1627  ;  but  it  is  not  on  record  that  he  ever  did 
so.  It  was  not  until  about  a  century  or  more  after 
this  that  PP.  Gozani  (1707),  Domenge,  Cibot  (1770), 
and  Gaubil  in  turn  sent  home  abridged  translations 
of  the  inscriptions,  afterwards  collated  by  P.  Brotier. 
In  1850  the  Bishop  of  Hongkong  (Protestant) 
took  the  lead  in  sending  a  deputation  of  Chinese 
Christians  to  K'ai-feng  Fu,  and  two  of  the  Jews 
were  induced  the  following  year  to  come  to 
Shanghai,  bringing  with  them  numerous  beautifully 
inscribed  scrolls  of  w^hite  sheepskin.  But  the 
synagogue  had  by  this  time  already  ceased  to 
exist,  and  the  remnant  of  the  Jews  were  in  a 
deplorable  condition  of  poverty.  In  1866  the  Rev. 
W.  A.  P.  Martin,  an  American  Protestant  missionary 
(still  working  for  the  Chinese  in  an  educational 
capacity),  himself  visited  the  site  of  the  synagogue  ; 
he  gives  a  graphic  account  of  his  visit  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Shanghai  Asiatic  Society  for  1866. 
He  also  alludes  to  the  fact  that  the  ordinary 
Chinese  had  some  difficulty  in  distinguishing  these 
"sinew-picking  Hwei-hweV  from  the  local  Mussul- 
mans, who  had  six  mosques  in  the  city,  and  who, 
so  far  from  sympathising  with  the  Jews  in  their 
distress,  rejoiced  in  the  destruction  of  their 
synagogue,   and    even    denounced    them    as    Kafirs 


174  THE   JEWS  [chap. 

(unbelievers).  One  solitary  stone  was  all  that  was 
left  in  the  open  space  where  the  synagogue  used 
to  be,  and  on  the  two  faces  of  this  stone  were 
the  above  described  records  of  1489  and  1512  ; 
the  stone  of  1663  was  in  a  separate  place  originally. 
Several  Jews  stepped  out,  in  answer  to  a  call,  from 
the  crowd  which  stood  round  Dr  Martin,  and  their 
features  in  his  opinion  unmistakably  marked  them 
as  being  such ;  notwithstanding  these  external 
evidences  of  feature,  thus  surviving  after  700  years 
of  pagan  Chinese  surroundings,  they  had  lost  all 
knowledge  of  Hebrew,  ceased  to  hand  down  the 
traditions  of  their  forefathers,  and  discontinued  the 
ritual.  The  male  children  had  not  even  been 
circumcised,  and  the  wretched  adults  confessed 
that  they  had  been  driven  by  want  to  pull  down 
the  sacred  building  with  their  own  hands.  Seven 
of  the  original  immigrant  families  named  in  1489 
still  had  representatives  there,  and  the  whole  colony 
as  then  existing  fell  short  of  400  souls ;  but  they 
never  assembled,  had  no  registers,  and  were  unable 
to  follow  back  their  tribal  pedigrees.  One  of  the 
men  present  was  the  son  of  the  last  rabbi,  who  had 
died  in  the  distant  province  of  Kan  Suh  about  the 
year  1830.  Of  course  the  devastating  T'ai-p'ing 
rebellion,  the  back  of  which  had  only  been  completely 
broken  in  1864,  was  largely  responsible  for  this 
distress. 

Since  then  several  Europeans  have  visited  the 
site — Mr  Libermann  in  1867,  the  Rev.  D.  J. 
Mills    in    1898.     In    1902    a   party   of  eight   Jews 


vni.]  EUROPE  AND  FRANKLAND  175 

visited  Shanghai,  and  declared  that  the  number  of 
adults  in  the  colony  was  now  reduced  to  140. 
Most  of  the  rituals,  scrolls,  and  other  interesting 
objects  connected  with  these  interesting  people 
have  now  been  secured  and  deposited  in  the  British 
Museum,  or  in  the  museums  of  Shanghai,  Hong- 
kong, and  places  in  India.  The  Jewish  community 
at  Shanghai  is  believed  to  have  taken  the  matter 
in  hand  with  a  view  of  preserving  the  colony  from 
extinction,  and  one  of  the  Jewish  lads  who 
accompanied  the  visitors  of  1902  is  receiving 
instruction  at  that  treaty  port.  According  to  an 
article  published  two  or  three  years  ago  in  the 
East  of  Asia  Magazine  by  Mr  Edward  Isaac  Ezra, 
a  Jewish  merchant  of  Shanghai,  many  of  the  rituals 
are  Persian,  and  there  are  many  Persian  words  in  the 
Hebrew  scrolls  ;  in  his  opinion  the  immigrants  must 
have  come  by  way  of  Khorasan  and  Samarcand. 

The  modern  Chinese  writers  on  Mohamme- 
danism call  Christians  Ou-jo-pa  (Arabic  Our  abba), 
or  "  Europeans,"  just  as  the  Arabs  of  the  seventh 
century  used  the  word  Afrangk,  in  a  loose  way, 
concurrently  with  "  Ourobbaween  "  and  "  Al  Roum  " 
for  "  the  Byzantines  "  ;  hence  the  West  Turks,  when 
in  the  sixth  century  they  came  into  intimate  relation 
with  Persia  and  Byzantium,  brought  the  word 
Fuh-lin  {Afrangh,  Ferenghi,  etc.)  back  with  them 
to  China.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  from  first 
to  last  the  Turkish  race,  whether  as  Hiung-nu, 
Eptals,  Turks  proper,  Ouigours,  or  Mongols,  have 
been    almost    the   sole   medium   of  connecting   by 


176  THE   JEWS  [chap. 

religious  links  China  with  Europe.  Even  now  the 
Turks,  besides  being  leaders  of  the  faithful,  are  in 
possession  of  both  Jewish  and  Christian  head- 
quarters, and,  in  their  mixed  condition  as  Mongols 
or  Moguls,  may  be  said  to  have  held  until  a  century 
ago  possession  of  the  headquarters  of  Buddhism. 
The  same  modern  Chinese  writers  call  the  Jews 
Chu-hu-ti,  and  this  gives  a  clue  by  which  we  are 
enabled  with  greater  certainty  to  trace  the  existence 
of  Jews  in  China  during  the  Mongol  dynasty, 
which  was  in  possession  of  the  whole  empire  a 
century  after  the  first  immigration  of  the  Persian 
Jews  in  1163.  Thus  in  the  year  1329  (midway 
between  the  years  1279  and  1356  of  the  Jewish 
inscriptions)  a  decree  ordained  that:  "traders 
belonging  to  the  Erkuns  (Christians),  Shuh-htt 
(in  Cantonese  still  pronounced  shtt  -  fut),  and 
Danishmends  should  still  pay  duties  under  the 
former  laws."  Mention  has  already  been  made  of 
the  Censor's  recommendation  of  1340  that  uncles 
(fathers'  brothers)  of  the  Danishmends,  Buddhists, 
Taoists,  Mussulmans,  and  Chu-wu  people  should 
not  be  allowed  to  intermarry — possibly  meaning 
that  their  children  should  not.  In  1355  an  order 
was  issued  by  the  Emperor  Toghun  Timur  calling 
upon  the  good  archers  of  Ning-hia  (Marco  Polo's 
Egrigaia,  where  he  says  there  were  Nestorians), 
and  the  rich  men  of  the  Mussulmans  and  Shuh-hu 
to  proceed  to  the  capital  for  military  service.  It 
might  be  that  the  repairs  made  (according  to  the 
third  tablet)  to    the  K'ai-feng   synagogue    in   1356 


VIII.]  IMPERIAL   PATRONAGE  177 

were    an    official     reward    for    these    services     in 

1355- 

It  is   also  remarkable  to  notice  that  whilst  the 

Nestorians  and  Jews,  both  of  whom  clearly  came 
to  China  from  Persia,  were,  according  to  the 
evidences  of  their  respective  stones,  eager  to  com- 
pound with  Chinese  philosophy  in  defining  their 
faith,  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Mussulmans, 
at  any  place  in  China,  have  ever  condescended  to 
depart  one  jot  from  their  "  Allah  is  great,  and 
Mohammed  is  his  prophet,"  or  that  they  have  ever 
felt  the  need  of  imperial  patronage.  The  Emperor 
K'ien  -  lung's  pompous  dedication  of  1767  was 
purely  gratuitous,  and,  moreover,  historically  in- 
correct. So  far  from  adapting  the  Mussulman 
beliefs  to  Chinese  ideas,  he  graciously  sympathises 
with  his  conquered  foes  for  having  never  heard  of 
any  literature  but  the  Rouz  Nameh. 


M 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE    ROMAN    CHURCH 

Gradual  collapse  of  the  T'ang  dynasty  after  the  religious  persecutions 

of  A.D.  845. — Tartars  once  more  dominate  the  North. — No  sign 

of  continued   Nestorianism  ;   or  scarcely  any.  — Genghis   Khan 

thinks  of  Taoism  ;   Christians  heard  of  in  Tartary. — Alarm  in 

Europe  ;     action    of   the    Pope.  —  Carpini    finds    Christians    in 

Mongolia. — Proof    of   a   Western   physican    being   with    Kayuk 

Khan. — Rubruquis  finds    Christians. — Mangu    Khan   arranges  a 

religious  tournament ;  he  mentions  Christians  ;  comes  round  to 

Buddhism. — Christians    in    Marco    Polo's    time. — Bishopric    at 

Peking   under    Montecorvino.  —  Buddhists    overweening  under 

Hayshan  Khan. — Temples  of  the  Cross. — Travels  of  Friar  Odoric. 

— Jews   and    Christians   mentioned    in    an   edict.  —  Mussulman 

persecutions. — The   word  "  Frank  "   again  in  evidence. — Eclipse 

of  Christianity  for  three  hundred  years. — Franks  under  the  new 

Ming  dynasty  ;  concerted  silence  of  Chinese  historians. — Arrival 

of  Portuguese   Franks   with   their  guns.  —  St.    Francis   Xavier 

comes  from  Japan  to  convert  China. — Unfavourable  impressions 

left  by  the   Portuguese  traders. — Establishment  of  an  episcopal 

see  at  Macao. — First  missionaries  in  the  interior  of  KwangTung. 

— Arrival  of  Ricci. — Suspicions  cause  them  to  quit  ;  he  establishes 

a   mission   at   Nanking,   and   visits    Peking.  —  Success. — Juda?a 

identified  with  Ta-ts'in. — Ricci   visited  by  the   Chinese  Jews. — 

Nestorian  stone  not   yet  discovered. — Ill-will   of  a  high  official 

causes  the  expulsion  of  the  Peking  and  Nanking  missionaries  to 

Macao. —Persecutions.— Rise  of  the   Manchu   power. — Need  of 

Frank  guns.     Missionaries  sent  for. — Discovery  of  the  Nestorian 

stone. — Statistics  of  converts  in  1627. — Reform  of  the  Calendar 

by  Schall ;    Mussulman  jealousy ;    Schall  manufactures  guns. — 

The  Manchus  take   Peking,   and   patronise   the  missionaries. — 

Accession  of  the  emperor  K'ang-hi. — Efforts  of  Spanish  regulars 

in   China  thwarted  by  the  Portuguese.— Mussulman  malice   at 

Peking. — Schall  sentenced  to  death. — K'ang-hi  takes  over  power 
178 


u  ■- 


CHAP.  IX.]     ECLIPSE    OF   CHRISTIANITY  179 

from  the  Regents,  and  patronises  Verbiest. — Guns  and  Christianity 
once  more. — Louis  XIV.  sends  more  missionaries. — Gerbillon 
and  the  Russians. — Louis  and  K'ang-hi  subscribe  to  build  a  new 
cathedral.  —  Unfortunate  question  of  ancestral  rites  ;  the  Jesuit 
view. — The  Spanish  (Dominican  and  Franciscan)  view. — Change- 
able action  of  the  Holy  See  under  conflicting  counsels. — Decision 
of  the  Manchu  emperor  in  favour  of  the  Jesuits. — Bishop  Toumon 
sent  to  negotiate  with  him. — The  Bull  Ex  quo  singulari  brings 
disputes  to  a  crisis. — Persecutions  under  two  succeeding  emperors. 
— Abolition  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  ;  Peking  placed  under  the 
Lazarists. — The  French  Revolution  and  after. — Slight  improve- 
ment after  the  first  English  war. — Second  English  war,  in  which 
France  joins  ;  the  T'ai-p'ing  rebellion. — The  pia  fraus  of  Abbe 
Delamarre. — The  Tientsin  Massacre. — Shifting  of  the  Peking 
Cathedral,  and  concession  of  official  rank  to  all  missionaries. — 
Statistics  of  all  the  Roman  Church  missions  in  the  Chinese 
empire. 

Soon  after  the  persecutions  of  845,  in  which 
Manicheans  and  Nestorians  aHke  had  suffered,  a 
series  of  rebellions  broke  out  in  China  ;  the  T'ano: 
dynasty  collapsed  ;  for  half  a  century  the  Empire 
was  divided  up  into  a  number  of  contending  states 
— almost  each  province  claiming  to  possess  an 
emperor  or  a  king ; — and  then  for  300  years  (900- 
1 200)  Tartars  of  various  kinds  once  more  dominated 
North  China,  whilst  the  Sung  dynasty  (Marco 
Polo's  Manzi)  ruled  the  south.  There  are  authentic 
traces  of  Jews  during  this  period,  as  we  have  seen  ; 
but  Nestorianism  seems  to  have  absolutely  dis- 
appeared, so  far  as  written  records  of  its  continued 
existence  are  concerned.  The  word  "Great 
Virtue "  only  appears  once,  and  even  then  almost 
at  the  very  close  ;  in  the  years  1 196-1 197  the  Golden 
Dynasty  of  Nuchen  Tartars,  already  menaced  by 
the  rising  power  of  Genghis  Khan,  decided  to  raise 


i8o  THE   ROMAN   CHURCH  [chap. 

money  by  selling  "  salvation  certificates "  in  order 
to  provide  for  the  army  expenses,  and  certain  rules 
were  made  limiting  the  age  and  numbers  of  pro- 
fessed bonzes,  srdmaneras,  Taoists,  and  Great 
Virtues ;  at  that  time  K'ai-feng  Fu  was  in  the 
Niachen  dominions,  and  indeed  in  12 14,  as  the 
Mongols  advanced,  became  the  Niichen  capital, 
so  that  we  may  well  believe  some  stray  Nestorians 
had  remained  there,  or  had  come  in  the  wake  of 
the  Jews  of  1163,  When  Genghis  Khan  found 
himself  amongst  the  strange  religions  of  the  West, 
he  seems  to  have  been  struck  with  certain  qualms 
of  conscience,  so  he  despatched  from  his  camp 
near  Samarcand  one  of  his  Mussulman  generals 
named  Djabar  Khodjo  to  fetch  from  Shan  Tung 
a  celebrated  Taoist  recluse  whom  he  wished  to 
consult  on  spiritual  matters ;  the  journal  of  this 
recluse  is  extant,  and  has  been  translated  into 
English  ;  as  he  was  approaching  a  town  between 
modern  Gutchen  and  Urumtsi,  he  was  welcomed 
by  the  chief  of  the  tieh-sieh  (the  tersa  or  Christians). 
On  his  return  to  China  this  Taoist  enjoyed  power, 
even  over  the  Buddhists,  until  his  death  in  1227; 
but  in  1253  a  Kashmirian  Buddhist  named  Nama 
was  placed  by  Mangu  Khan  over  the  rival  bonzes, 
and  polemical  disputations  took  place  at  court. 
Such  was  the  alarm  caused  in  Europe  by  the 
Mongol  conquests,  that  after  the  council  of  Lyons 
in  1245  Pope  Innocent  IV.  despatched  John  de 
Piano  Carpini  and  other  monks  to  intercede  with 
Genghis'  son,   the  new   Khan  Ogdai.     Ogdai   was 


IX.]  WESTERNERS    IN   CHINA  i8i 

dead  and  Kayuk  was  being  crowned  when  Carpini 
reached  Sira  -  Ordo  in  1247;  two  of  the  Great 
Khan's  ministers  were  found  to  be  Greek  Christians 
who  maintained  a  chapel  there  at  the  Khan's 
expense.  This  agreeable  discovery  led  many  other 
monks  from  Syria,  Babylonia,  and  the  land  of  the 
Alans  (Tartars  of  the  Aral)  to  visit  the  Khan, 
whose  physicians,  according  to  the  Persian  authors, 
were  Christians.  This  last  statement  is  interesting, 
for  the  Mongol  history,  which  in  one  place  says 
Aisie  was  a  Fuh  -  lin  man  (Frank),  a  linguist, 
astrologer,  and  physician,  actually  asserts  that  he 
served  Kayuk,  and  that  subsequently  in  1263  was 
chief  physician  and  astrologer  to  Kublai ;  in  1273 
he  is  once  styled  a  Mussulman,  and  his  hospital  at 
Peking  w^as  officially  called  the  "  Broad  Charity "  : 
on  his  death  he  was  made  Prince  of  Fuh  -  lin, 
having  already  when  alive  been  created  Duke  of 
Ts'in  Kingdom  (Byzantine  Empire).  Louis  IX. 
despatched  Bartholomew  of  Cremona  and  William 
of  Rubruquis  to  the  sub-khan,  Sartach  (on  the 
Volga),  where  they  met  with  some  Nestorians  ;  and 
to  Mangu  Khan  (at  Karakoram),  where  they 
found  Armenian,  Russian,  and  Nestorian  priests. 
Haithon,  King  of  Armenia,  also  visited  Sartach 
(on  his  way  to  Mangu's  court),  and  found  him  a 
Christian.  Rubruquis  says  there  were  Nestorians 
in  fifteen  of  the  Chinese  ''  civitatibus''  (provincial 
capitals),  with  a  bishop  at  Segin  (probably  Si-king 
or  "  Western  capital,"  for  the  name  Si-ngan  or 
Si-an    did    not    then    yet   exist)  ;    they    were    very 


i82  THE   ROMAN   CHURCH  [chap. 

corrupt,  and  repeated  their  Syriac  ritual  like 
parrots,  without  knowing  in  the  least  what  it 
meant.  Mangu  Khan  arranged  a  "field-day"  for 
disputes  between  Nestorians,  Catholics,  Mussul- 
mans, Taoists,  and  Buddhists.  Rubruquis  was 
the  victorious  champion  for  the  first  two,  but  he 
says  nothing  of  Taoists.  Mangu  congratulated 
him  and  said :  "  We  Tartars  recognise  one  God, 
at  whose  beck  we  live  and  die,  and  to  whom 
our  hearts  are  always  converted.  But,  just  as 
God  has  given  us  several  fingers  to  our  hands, 
so  has  he  graciously  granted  to  men  many  ways 
leading  to  celestial  bliss.  Thus  he  has  given  to 
the  tieh-sieh  the  Mi-sh'i-ho  (Messiah,  Gospels), 
and  to  us  Mongols  the  Shamans.  On  the  other 
hand,  you  have  now  been  some  time  in  our  realm  ; 
take  steps  towards  returning  to  your  own  country." 
This  was  in  1254.  But  in  1256  Mangu,  whose 
mother  was  a  Christian,  had  another  bout ;  this 
time  in  the  absence  of  the  doughty  Christian 
champion;  and  he  decided  for  Buddhism, — "the 
thumb,"  whilst  Taoism,  Confucianism,  Christianity, 
and  Islam  were  styled  mere  "  fingers."  There  are 
proofs  that  under  Kublai  Taoists  continued  to 
enjoy  some  credit, — even  after  1285,  when  they 
were  finally  humiliated  by  their  rivals  the  Buddhists, 
and  with  his  official  sanction. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  Kublai  Khan's 
decree  of  1262;  the  persons  of  "other  religions" 
who  had  to  give  military  service  were  Elko'en  or 
Erkun  (Arkons)   and    Danishmends    (Mollahs) ;    it 


IX.]  WESTERN    EVIDENCES  183 

has  been  proved  that  the  Mongols  used  to  call 
Christians  by  this  name — ye-li-k'o-iven  as  it  appears 
in  Chinese — which  is  perhaps  the  Greek  ^px<^v  in  its 
Syraic  form;  another  decree  of  1264  ordains  that 
they,  as  well  as  mollahs,  bonzes,  and  Taoist  priests, 
must  pay  land-tax  and  trade-taxes.  In  that  year  a 
"Western  bonze"  was  ordered  to  pray  for  rain, 
but  it  is  not  clear  what  religion  is  intended ; 
evidently  neither  Chinese  Buddhists  nor  Taoists 
were  meant,  for  in  1266  these  were  both  specially 
ordered  to  pray  for  rain  ;  to  judge  by  three  other 
decrees  in  1 286-1 287,  probably  Hindoo  Buddhist 
priests  or  Kashmirians  are  intended.  In  1267,  and 
again  in  1 292,  the  four  religious  groups, and  also  stage- 
post  managers,  were  exempted  from  certain  military 
services.  In  1270,  and  again  in  1282,  the  same 
four  classes,  if  married  contrary  to  their  disciplinary 
laws,  were  placed  on  a  level  as  to  taxes,  etc.,  with 
ordinary  lay  folk ;  in  the  same  year  the  student 
bonzes  of  Tangut  were  prohibited  from  occupying 
private  land  under  false  pretences.  At  this  time 
China,  Tangut,  Transoxiana,  and  Turkestan  were 
the  most  easterly  four  of  the  sixty-four  Nestorian 
Sees,  under  the  Patriarch  at  Bagdad.  In  1887 
Mr  Labaree,  an  American  missionary  in  Persia, 
discovered  a  Syrian  sketch  proving  that  in  the 
thirteenth  century  one  of  the  Patriarchs  had  come 
from  China  along  with  a  second  Nestorian.  Marco 
Polo  mentions  Christians  at  Bagdad,  Kashgar, 
Yarkand,  and  Samarcand  ;  also  at  Sacchiou  (Sha 
Chou),  Succiur  (Suh  Chou),  and  Campichu  (Kan, 


i84  THE   ROMAN  CHURCH  [chap. 

or  Kam  Chou),  all  three  in  Tangut ;  besides  other 
places  in  the  modern  provinces  of  Shan  Si  (where 
he  calls  them  "Argon"),  Chili  Li,  and  Yiin  Nan. 
Mar  Nestorius  was  the  metropolitan  at  Peking  when 
Marco  first  arrived  there  in  1275.  In  1 271  Kublai 
had  written  to  the  Pope  to  ask  for  a  hundred 
Catholic  literates,  in  consequence  of  which  Nicholas 
III.  sent  some  letters  in  reply  by  a  Franciscan 
mission  (1277-1280) ;  just  at  that  time,  according 
to  Marco  Polo,  Kublai  sent  a  Nestorian,  named 
Mar  Sarghiz,  as  governor  of  Cin-ghingiu  (Chin- 
kiang  Fu),  where  he  built  two  churches.  Within 
the  past  generation  the  Russian  Archimandrite 
Palladius  has  discovered  confirmation  of  this 
circumstance  in  a  fourteenth  century  Chinese  work 
on  Chinkiang,  even  to  the  name  of  Mar  Sarghiz  : 

"  Samarcand  is  a  country  where  the  religion  of 
the  Elkoen  dominates.  The  founder  of  the  religion 
was  called  Mar  Elia  (the  Lord  Elias).  Ma 
Sie-li-ki-sz  is  a  follower  of  Him,  and  also  built  a 
church  at  Hangchow." 

Unfortunately,  in  1308,  the  hostile  Buddhists 
got  the  upper  hand  in  these  parts,  and  turned  both 
churches  into  temples.  According  to  Marco  Polo, 
Nayen,  Lord  of  Manchuria,  who  was  defeated  and 
slain  in  1287  by  Kublai  near  Mukden,  was  a 
Christian,  and  fought  under  the  Banner  of  the 
Cross  ;  but  the  Chinese  say  nothing  to  suggest  it. 
The  Quilon  Christian  mission  in  1282  has  already 
been  mentioned  ;  it  was  sent  by  U-tsa-r  P'ieh-li-ma, 


IX.]  BUDDHIST    MISCONDUCT  185 

which  suggests  "the  Ustdd^  Ephraim."  Meanwhile 
the  Franciscan,  John  of  Montecorvino,  had  reached 
Khanbalig  (Peking),  founded  his  bishopric,  and 
built  his  church  (1289);  unfortunately  he  lacked  a 
sufficiency  of  coadjutors,  and  found  himself  seriously 
obstructed  by  the  jealous  Nestorians.  Kublai  died 
in  1294,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson  Timur. 
Montecorvino  was  created  Archbishop  and  Primate 
of  the  Far  East  by  Clement  V.  in  1307,  and  two 
bishops  came  out  the  following  year  in  order 
to  consecrate  and  reinforce  him.  For  some 
unexplained  reason  the  next  Great  Khan,  Hayshan, 
renewed  the  old  ordnance  that  bonzes,  Taoists, 
Arkons,  and  Danishmends  should  pay  taxes  like 
other  folk ;  this  order  was  confirmed,  both  as  to 
land-tax  and  customs-dues,  in  1309,  in  spite  of  a 
vigorous  protest  from  the  Buddhist  hierarchy. 
Something  must  have  occurred  to  irritate  the 
Emperor ;  probably  the  outrageous  violence  of 
the  Buddhist  monks  at  Shang-tu  (Xanadu)  in 
1 307- 1 308:  the  result  was  that  the  official  bureaux 
of  all  religions  were  entirely  suppressed  in  13 10. 
It  is  not  clear  why  the  Buddhist  office  was  also 
closed,  for  Hayshan  showed  a  foolish  tolerance  of 
the  ruffianly  monks.  Western  writers  mention  a 
Catholic  bishopric  in  Zaitun  (near  Amoy,  in  Fuh 
Kien),  and  a  church  built  there  by  a  rich  Armenian 
lady;  the  bishop,   Mgr.   Gerard,  died    about    1313. 

^  The  Jewish  inscription,  which  also  makes  use  of  the  Mussulman 
title  mollah^  uses  this  Persian  word  for  "  rabbi  "  in  the  form  U-sz-tah^ 
as  we  have  already  seen. 


1 86  THE    ROMAN   CHURCH  [chap. 

The  Mongol  history  has  numerous  mentions 
of  foreign  trade  there ;  in  1 308  a  certain 
Ma-ho-ma-tan-ti,  who  was  trading  there,  sent  the 
Emperor  some  presents,  including  Turkestan 
horses,  etc.  In  13 14  Ayulipalipatra,  brother  and 
successor  of  Hayshan,  once  more  exempted  priests 
of  the  four  religions  from  certain  taxes  ;  this  edict, 
full  and  translated  copies  of  which  in  Mongol  and 
Chinese  still  exist,  is  well  known  to  specialists.  In 
1315  the  Arkon  Temple  of  the  Cross  at  Peking 
was  completely  reorganised  and  raised  to  a  higher 
status  : 

"The  seventy-two  Arkon  faith-managing  offices 
(?  dioceses)  within  the  Empire  are  abolished,  and 
their  affairs  are  transferred  to  this  one  bureau." 

In  1320  a  further  unimportant  change  in 
nomenclature  was  made.  The  new  Bishop  of 
Zaitun,  Mgr.  Peregrin  (one  of  the  two  who  had 
been  sent  out  to  consecrate  Montecorvino),  died 
in  1322.  In  1324  an  edict  appeared  ordering 
that  all  Arkons  were  to  conduct  fasts  according  to 
their  own  teaching,  and  that  both  they  and  the 
Danishmends  were  to  be  exempt  from  forced 
labour  demands.  Amongst  the  wandering  monks 
who  visited  China  about  now  was  the  celebrated 
Franciscan  Friar  Odoric  of  Frioul,  whose  account 
of  his  experiences  with  Montecorvino  at  Peking 
we  have  in  our  European  libraries  ;  he  also  found  a 
Franciscan  convent  in  existence  at  Yang-chou  Fu, 
where  there  were  "plusieurs  autres  Eglises  de 
religieux,    mais    ceulz    sont     nestorins."       It    was 


IX.]  PRESTER   JOHN  187 

Odoric's  intention  to  fetch  fifty  more  monks  to 
China,  but  he  died  at  Utini  in  1331  on  his  way- 
home.  In  1328,  or,  as  one  account  says,  1330, 
Montecorvino  died,  and  was  succeeded  in  1333  by 
Archbishop  Nicholas,  who  only  reached  Peking  in 
1342.  He  w^as  unconsciously  crossed  on  his  way 
by  a  mission  from  the  Khan  to  the  Pope,  asking 
for  a  successor  to  Montecorvino:  Benedict  XII. 
sent  back  four  Franciscans  with  these  messengers 
(1338).  In  1329  a  decree  ordered  Arkons,  SJmh-hu 
(Jews),  and  Danishmends  to  pay  taxes  under 
former  laws.  It  has  already  been  stated  that  the 
mother  of  Mangu  (and  of  Kublai,  a  niece  of 
"  Prester  John"  of  the  Keraits)  was  a  Christian, 
and  that  Marco  Polo  found  some  Christians  at 
Campichu :  the  following  edict  of  1335,  with  its 
rescript,  is  therefore  interesting  : — 

"The  Grand  Council  represents  that  the  Temple 
of  the  Cross  in  the  Kam  Chou  circuit  contains  the 
remains  of  the  late  Dowager- Empress,  mother  of 
his  late  Majesty  Divus  Secularis  (Kublai),  and 
advises  that  the  proper  rites  in  her  spiritual 
honour  be  fixed.     Agreed  to." 

In  1338  a  Franciscan  mission  had  been  founded 
in  Hi  by  Pascal  de  Vittoria,  but  it  was  destroyed 
within  five  years.  Dynastic  quarrels,  recrimina- 
tions, and  murders  had  been  going  on  for  some 
time  in  connection  with  the  succession,  in  which 
struggles,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Mussulmans  took  a 
grave  part.  According  to  Catholic  missionary 
accounts   (which,    however,    are    not   supported   by 


i88  THE   ROMAN   CHURCH  [chap. 

precise  evidence),  a  cruel  Mussulman  persecution  of 
Christians  took  place  under  the  last  Khan  Toghun 
Timur  (1333 -1368).  Benedict  XII.,  then  at 
Avignon,  received  letters  dated  1336  from  him, 
and  also  from  the  Alan  Tartars  in  his  service  at 
Peking :  the  envoy  bearing  these  letters  was  a 
francus  named  Andrea :  indeed,  this  is  the  mission 
above  alluded  to  which,  in  some  way,  crossed  that 
of  Nicholas  (i  333-1 342).  It  is  a  significant  thing 
that  the  official  Mongol  history  mentions  in  1342 
the  arrival  of  a  man  from  Fuh-lang  country  (its 
first  mention  in  that  form)  with  the  present  of  a  fine 
horse.  In  1362  Jacques  de  Florence,  fifth  Bishop 
of  Zaitun,  was  massacred,  and  soon  after  that  the 
whole  Mongol  empire  in  China  began  to  fall  in 
pieces. 

However  unconnected  and  incomplete  the 
above  mass  of  information  may  be — and  it  is  by 
no  means  all  that  is  available — it  is  abundantly 
plain  that,  during  the  whole  of  the  Mongol  dynasty 
(1206- 1 368),  both  Nestorianism  and  the  Church  of 
Rome  were  steadily  represented  in  the  Far  East. 
Although  nothing  definite  is  recorded  of  the  former 
during  the  three  centuries  of  time  China  was  ruled 
by  Cathayans  and  Nuchens  in  the  north  and  the 
Sung  dynasty  in  the  south,  it  seems  impossible  to 
doubt  that  many  foreign  religions  must  have 
flourished,  or  at  least  existed,  peacefully  and 
unobtrusively,  under  the  negative  protection  of 
the  indulgent  and  highly  literary  house  of  Sung ; 
if  not,   indeed,   also  among   the   rough    Tartars  of 


ix]  PRANKISH   TRADERS  189 

Tangut,  Cathay,  and  what  we  now  call  Manchuria. 
Another  complete  eclipse  of  three  hundred  years 
was  now  about  to  take  place.  During  four-fifths 
of  the  native  Ming  dynasty  (1368- 1644),  it  is  scarcely 
an  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  very  idea  of 
"  Christian,"  not  to  say  the  word,  or  any  word 
for  it,  does  not  once  occur  in  the  Chinese  annals. 
On  the  accession  of  the  Ming  dynasty,  a  Fuh- 
lin  man  named  Nie-ku-lun  was  discovered  in 
China ;  he  had  come  to  trade,  and  the  new 
emperor  conceived  the  idea  in  1371  of  sending 
him  back  home  with  letters  announcing  the 
conquest  of  China  by  a  native  house.  It  is 
scarcely  fair  to  assume  from  such  slender  testimony 
that  this  man  was  Archbishop  Nicholas ;  yet  it 
is  a  fact  that  in  1370  Urban  V.  appointed  a  new 
archbishop  in  the  person  of  William  de  Prato, 
who  was  accompanied  by  twelve  Franciscans. 
Nothing  further  is  known  of  either  event.  The 
Manchus,  in  publishing  the  history  of  the  Ming 
house,  seem  to  have  most  scrupulously  expunged 
every  scrap  of  information  touching  Russia  and 
Europe,  at  least  until  Western  events  touched  them- 
selves, and  therefore  had  to  be  noticed.  In  15 17  the 
first  Ftih-lang-ki  ships  appeared  at  Canton  ;  these 
were  the  Portuguese,  who  had  just  asserted  their 
power  over  Malacca,  and  had  now  for  the  first 
time  discovered  plainly  that  the  China  they  were 
menacing  by  sea  was  the  Cathay  of  Marco  Polo 
and  other  Western  writers  as  observed  by  land. 
What     most     impressed     the     Chinese    were     the 


190  THE    ROMAN    CHURCH  [chap. 

formidable  guns  of  the  strangers,  which  in  some 
parts  of  China  still  retain  the  name  "  Frank," 
given  to  them  at  the  time  ;  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
word  "Frank"  for  "French"  and  for  Spaniards  as 
well,  suggests  that  this  generic  term  was  obtained 
through  the  Arab  and  Persian  traders  of  old 
standing.  Meanwhile  St.  Francis  Xavier  had 
discovered  in  Japan  how  many  of  the  educated 
people  then  studied  Chinese  ideas,  and  he  there- 
fore determined  in  1552  to  proceed  to  the  larger 
empire ;  but  he  died  at  a  small  island  off  the 
Canton  coast,  very  shortly  after  his  arrival.  A 
Portuguese  Dominican,  named  Gaspard  a  Cruce, 
had  some  temporary  success  ;  but  the  violence  of 
the  Frank  traders  had  by  this  time  alarmed  the 
government,  which  was  moreover  by  no  means 
favourably  impressed  by  the  specimens  of  Western 
civilisation  sent  by  the  Portuguese  from  Canton 
to  negotiate  terms  at  Peking.  Whilst  on  the 
one  hand  the  trading  ships  were  attempting  to 
*share  the  flourishing  trade  of  Ningpo,  Amoy,  and 
other  ports  along  the  coast,  their  ecclesiastical 
colleagues  in  the  south  had  established  an 
episcopal  See  at  Macao,  where  by  some  underhand 
dealings  with  the  Portuguese  commanders  the 
corrupt  mandarins  had  been  bribed  into  allowing 
them  to  create  a  military  base.  The  possession  of 
Macao  has  only  been  legalised  within  the  past 
few  years,  and  ecclesiastically  all  China  {in 
partibus)  is  supposed  to  fall  under  this  ancient 
diocese. 


IX.]  MATTHEW   RICCI  191 

The  first  missionaries  to  obtain  a  real  foothold 
in  China  were  the  Jesuits  P.P.  Ruggieri  and  Pasio, 
who  were  all  the  better  qualified  for  their  work  in 
that  they  had  undergone  a  course  of  Chinese  study 
at  Macao;  in  the  year  1582  they  succeeded,  by 
offering  judicious  gifts  at  Canton,  in  ingratiating 
themselves  with  the  Chinese  Viceroy,  and  at  last 
obtained  permission  from  him  to  settle  much 
further  up  the  river  at  Shiu-hing  (Chao-k'ing),  then 
the  official  capital  of  the  "Two  Kwang"  provinces. 
Matthew  Ricci  followed  them  in  1583.  Being  a 
profound  mathematician,  very  erudite,  and  also 
patient  and  courteous  to  boot,  he  greatly  impressed 
the  educated  natives,  many  of  whom  placed  them- 
selves under  the  training  of  the  missionaries ;  he 
occupies  an  imperishable  place  in  official  Chinese 
history.  Ruggieri  and  two  new  arrivals  managed 
to  extend  operations  to  Hangchow^  and  also  to 
one  or  two  places  in  Central  China ;  but  mean- 
while suspicions  as  to  their  motives  had  been 
aroused,  and  the  missionaries  had  very  soon  to 
quit  Shiu-hing.  Ricci,  observing  that  the  con- 
tinued success  of  his  mission  was  at  the  mercy  of 
local  mandarin  caprice,  set  out  in  1595  for  Peking: 
on  his  way,  beset  by  numerous  obstacles  and 
incredible  troubles,  he  founded  a  mission  under 
P.  Cataneo  at  Nanking,  and  it  was  only  after  six 
years  of  finesse,  difficulty,  and  interruption  that 
he  at  last  arrived  with  P.  Didaco  in  Peking ; 
whither,  indeed,  the  Emperor  had  ordered  him 
to  be  sent,  in  order  that  he    might    better   under- 


192  THE    ROMAN   CHURCH  [chap. 

stand  the  meaning  of  the  reports  on  Ricci's 
movements  which  kept  arriving  at  the  metropolis. 
The  story  of  his  brilHant  success  at  the  Chinese 
capital  has  often  been  told  in  detail ;  even  the 
(later)  Prime  Minister  Sii  Kwang-k'i,  usually 
known  as  Paul  Sii  (local  Zi),  was  among  his 
supporters  and  converts.  Ricci  was  made  Superior 
of  all  the  Jesuits  in  China,  established  a  Noviciate 
for  Chinese  at  Peking,  and  also  a  clerical  seminary 
at  Macao ;  besides — through  judiciously  worked 
influences — securing  the  success  of  the  Nanking, 
Ch'ao-chou  (Swatow)  and  Nan-ch'ang  (Kiang  Si) 
missions  under  PP.  Pantoja,  Longobardi,  and 
Soerius.  Meanwhile  he  had  not  been  idle  in 
the  direction  of  Chinese  studies  ;  and  in  preparing 
for  the  high  officials,  so  ignorant  of  geography 
and  science  in  general,  some  explanatory  maps 
of  the  Five  Continents,  he  was  able  to  make 
clear  to  them  that  J u-te-ya  (Judaea),  where  the 
Lord  of  Heaven  preached  by  him  was  born,  was 
no  other  than  the  Ta-ts'in  of  ancient  Han  history. 
There  were  not  wanting  opponents  of  Ricci  in  the 
Board  of  Rites  and  other  conservative  quarters  ; 
the  old  denunciations  of  Buddhism  by  Han  Yii 
were  quoted  as  apt  applications  to  Ricci's  relics 
of  the  saints,  and  his  strange  doctrine  of  the 
"  Lord  of  Heaven's  Mother,"  the  Incarnation, 
and  the  Resurrection:  the  "intellectuals"  were  of 
course  acquainted  with  the  historical  religious 
disputes  touching  the  Manicheans,  Buddhists, 
Nestorians,  and  Taoists.     Meanwhile  occurred  the 


IX.]  MALICIOUS    INSINUATIONS  193 

episode  of  the  visit  to  Peking  of  one  of  the 
K'ai-feng  Jews,  which,  though  interesting  enough 
to  Ricci  as  a  historical  reminiscence,  would  naturally 
not  be  noised  abroad  by  a  highly  educated  French 
Jesuit,  who,  it  may  be  presumed,  was  in  no  hurry 
to  proclaim  to  the  Chinese  his  spiritual  relation- 
ship with  the  Persian  or  Syrian  Jews  whose 
hierarchical  ancestors  had  crucified  his  Master. 

Ricci  died  in  16 10,  some  years  before  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Nestorian  stone,  which  places  the 
Ta-ts'in  question,  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  the 
connection  with  Persia,  on  a  comparatively  secure 
Chinese  basis,  and  which  therefore  would  have 
greatly  rejoiced  his  heart.  His  successor  was 
Longobardi  ;  but  in  16 16  the  ill-will  of  a  high 
official  named  Shen  K'ioh  brought  about  the 
expulsion  of  the  missionaries  from  Peking  and 
Nanking,  whence  they  were  dismissed  to  Macao. 
When  the  "White  Lily"  rebellion  of  1622  broke 
out,  this  same  malicious  persecutor  endeavoured 
to  identify  the  teaching  of  the  Christians  with  the 
tenets  of  that  subversive  Buddhist  sect ;  orders 
were  sent  to  the  provinces,  and  a  general  persecu- 
tion took  place  all  over  the  empire.  The  Manchus 
in  the  meantime  were  now  beginning  to  threaten 
the  northern  frontiers  ;  this  alarming  state  of  affairs 
induced  the  Emperor  to  hearken  to  the  advice  of 
some  watchful  political  Christians,  who  represented 
to  him  the  military  advantages  likely  to  follow 
from  the  employment  of  those  formidable  Frank 
guns.     In   consequence    of  this   agreeable    turn    of 


N 


194  THE    ROMAN    CHURCH  [chap. 

fortune's  wheel,  PP.  de  la  Roque,  Diaz,  and 
Longobardi  once  more  entered  Peking  in  com- 
parative triumph.  It  was  in  1625  that  the  first 
distinct  news  reached  the  Jesuits  at  Hangchow 
about  the  discovery  of  the  Nestorian  stone.  This 
event,  speedily  bruited  about,  was  of  no  small 
assistance  in  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
although  (in  the  words  of  the  missionaries  them- 
selves) : 

"It  is  redolent  of  the  heretical  doctrine,  notably 
as  touching  the  Incarnation,  and  also  because  the 
missionaries  of  whom  it  speaks  were  natives  of 
Syria  and  Persia,  which  states  were  infected  at 
that  time  with  the  errors  of  the  Nestorians." 

By  1627  there  were  13,000  Christians  in  seven 
Chinese  provinces,  including  in  that  total  a  large 
number  of  imperial  princes,  high  officials,  and  even 
forty  palace  eunuchs ;  in  fact  it  was  the  eunuch 
Ma  T'ang  who  had  originally  obtained  for  Ricci 
the  reception  of  his  "tribute"  as  a  "West  Ocean 
man."  Shen  K'ioh  had  now  collapsed,  and  Paul 
Sii  was   Premier. 

The  next  great  question  was  the  reform  of  the 
Calendar,  and  in  order  to  accomplish  this  James 
Rho  and  Adam  Schall,  Jesuits  stationed  at  Si-an 
Fu,  were  summoned  to  Peking  and  appointed  to  the 
Astronomical  Board.^  This  action  led  to  serious 
disputes    with    the    rival    Mussulman    astronomers, 

^  Schall  was  a  German,  and  possibly  this  fact  may  have  induced 
the  Germans  to  make  off  in  the  year  1900  with  his  astronomical 
instruments,  which  now  occupy  a  prominent  position  on  the  terrace 
of  Potsdam  park. 


IX.]  A  CHANGE   OF   DYNASTY  195 

whose  Calendar  had  been  in  part  use  since  the 
year  1382,  and  was  practically  the  same  as  the 
one  prepared  in  1267  for  the  Mongols  by  Djamal- 
uddin  ;  as  this  again  was  like  that  from  "  West 
Asia"  used  in  the  T'ang  dynasty  (seventh 
century),  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  scientific 
Mussulmans  had  continuously  been  employed  in 
China ;  certainly  ever  since  Kublai  Khan  sent 
for  them  to  make  artillery.  Adam  Schall  was 
able  to  render  further  valuable  assistance  in 
casting  bronze  cannon  for  use  against  the  Tartars 
and  the  rebels :  meanwhile  Paul  Sii  and  James 
Rho  had  both  died.  We  have  seen  how  in  1642 
the  rebel  leader  and  the  imperial  troops  between 
them  caused  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish 
synagogue  at  K'ai-feng  Fu ;  two  years  later  the 
same  rebel  took  Peking,  and  the  last  Ming  emperor 
hanged  himself.  Probably  the  rebels,  who  were 
fighting  against  tyranny  and  oppression,  were 
not  so  bad  as  official  history  makes  them  out  to 
be,  for  it  seems  they  spared  Adam  Schall  and 
all  the  Christians,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  their 
church  ;  (it  was  just  900  years  since  the  Ouigours 
had  butchered  the  Chinese  who  took  refuge  in  a 
Buddhist  temple  at  another  Chinese  capital).  The 
Manchu  Tartars,  having  been  called  in  to  drive 
the  rebels  away,  and  seeing  that  the  de  jure 
emperor  was  now  dead,  not  unnaturally  took 
possession  of  Peking  for  themselves ;  and  thus 
the  Ming  dynasty  came  suddenly  to  an  end. 
The  first  Manchu  emperor,  on  Schall's  respect- 


196  THE   ROMAN   CHURCH  [chap. 

ful  submission  to  the  new  dynasty,  not  only  showed 
him  every  consideration,  but  at  his  intercession 
ordered  that  Christians  throughout  the  empire 
should  be  free  from  molestation  ;  besides  this,  a 
magnificent  church  or  cathedral  was  contructed 
at  the  capital.  The  Emperor  was  on  quite 
familiar  terms  with  Schall,  whom  he  used  to  call 
his  Maffa  (a  Manchu  term  for  "old  man");  and 
the  young  emperor  even  submitted  to  instruction 
in  the  Christian  Faith;  however,  he  died  in  1661 
unbaptized,  and  even  unconverted,  at  the  early 
age  of  twenty-four.  The  second  emperor  being 
young.  Regents  governed  the  empire  on  his  behalf. 
Besides  the  Jesuits  at  Peking,  there  were  the 
missions  of  the  Spanish  Franciscans  and  Domini- 
cans (from  Manila)  in  Fuh  Kien.  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  commercial  jealousy  led  to  religious 
obstruction  also  being  placed  in  the  way  of 
Spaniards  at  Macao;  still,  by  the  year  1665  they 
had  as  many  as  14,000  Christians  in  the  three 
coast  provinces.  The  Mussulman  astronomer, 
Yang  Kwang  -  sien,  in  his  disappointment  and 
chagrin,  was  for  a  time  successful  under  the 
Regents  in  engineering  a  very  active  anti-Chris- 
tian campaign  at  Peking  ;  he  secured  the  dismissal 
of  Adam  Schall,  and  for  himself  the  coveted 
Astronomical  Presidency.  The  Board  of  Rites, 
always  on  the  look-out  in  the  interests  of  Con- 
fucianism, joined  in  the  hue  and  cry  ;  Christianity 
was  prohibited,  and  Schall  was  even  sentenced 
to  death  ;    all   the    other  missionaries    (except   four 


IX.]  ACCEPTABLE   JESUITS  197 

who  remained  in  hiding)  were  sent  away  to  Canton. 
Through  the  influence  of  the  Emperor's  grandmother 
(a  Mongol  Tartar)  Schall's  sentence  of  death  was 
cancelled  ;  but  the  old  man's  health  had  broken  down 
under  the  weight  of  all  these  tribulations,  and  he  died 
in  1665  at  the  age  of  seventy-six.  When  K'ang-hi, 
a  prince  of  enquiring  and  scientific  mind,  himself 
assumed  independent  control  of  the  Empire  in  1666, 
one  of  his  first  steps  was  to  question  the  accuracy 
of  the  Calendar,  and  to  unearth  Ferdinand  Verbiest 
and  the  other  three  missionaries  who  had  lain  in 
close  concealment.  Verbiest  took  the  opportunity, 
while  reforming  the  Calendar,  to  plead  for  and 
secure  better  treatment  of  the  Christians  throuo^h- 
out  the  empire  ;  he  was  all  the  more  able  to  obtain 
good  terms  by  his  readiness  to  cast  brass  guns  of 
large  calibre  for  the  Tartar  wars  in  which  the 
Manchus  were  now  engaged,  and  by  his  handiness 
in  arranging  diplomatic  difficulties  with  the  Russians. 
Louis  XIV.  of  France  in  1685  sent  out  a  band  of 
very  distinguished  Jesuits  to  reinforce  Verbiest  at 
the  court  of  K'ang-hi ;  this  was  done  in  the  very 
nick  of  time,  for  Verbiest  had  died  a  few  days 
before  their  arrival  in  Peking  in  March  1688;  two 
of  the  new  missionaries  PP.  Gerbillon  and  Bouvet, 
were  attached  as  general  advisers  to  the  Emperor's 
person,  and  Gerbillon  was  of  great  assistance  in 
concluding  with  Russia  the  celebrated  peace  of 
1689.  He  thus  secured  the  patronage  of  the 
Czar  for  his  mission. 

In    the  provinces    there  were  various    ups   and 


198  THE   ROMAN    CHURCH  [chap. 

downs,  but   on  the  whole    things  progressed  fairly 
well,  and  there  were  by  this  time  300,000  Christians 
in    various    parts    of   China.     The    Emperor    even 
allowed  a  magnificent  new  cathedral  church  to  be 
built  in  the  palace  grounds  ;    this   was  done  partly 
at     his     own    expense,     King     Louis     XIV.     also 
contributing.       Unfortunately,    however,    the    great 
question  of  "rites"  arose,  which  practically  decided 
adversely  and  for  ever  the  then  moot  point,  "  Shall 
China  become    officially  Christian?"     In   1698  the 
Jesuits    begged   the  Apostolic  See  to   allow    those 
ancestral  rites  the  practice  of  which  was  agreeable 
to  the  Chinese  system  of  ethics  ;  also  to  permit  the 
use    of  the    Chinese  tongue  in    the    celebration    of 
the   liturgy.     Both   requests    were   refused,   as  had 
previously  been  the  case  in  1606  with  the  Malabar^ 
rites  in  India,  when  referred  to  the  Holy  See  for 
consideration  :  at  that  time  the  Jewish  inscriptions 
in    K'ai-feng  Fu   had  not    yet  been   translated,  or 
even    perhaps    read ;     but     the    example    of    the 
Nestorians    at    any    rate    was    before    the    prudent 
Jesuits,    who   probably  judged  rightly   that   it    was 
necessary    to    compound    for    a    little    time    with 
dogma   if    success    in    China   was    to    be   general  : 
the    Chinese  literates   are  past  masters  in    the   art 
of  diluting  statements  of  positive  belief  or  positive 
fact,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  way  in  which  Taoism 
and    Confucianism    are    ingeniously   blended    with 
the  Western  relig"ions. 

1  Mention  has  already  been  made  of  missions  from  the  Erkuns 
or  Arkons  of  Quilon.  However,  the  further  question  of  Malabar 
Christians  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this  Chinese  enquiry. 


Su'ipa  ;U  Tcking,  near  the  old  Kdiiian  Catholic  Cathedral 
in  the  I'alace  (irounds. 

[To  face  p.  198. 


IX.]       VACILLATION  AT  HEADQUARTERS     199 

Ricci  had  been  of  opinion  that  these  ancestral 
functions,  which  our  first  chapter  shows  to  have 
been  from  all  time  of  the  essence  of  State  teaching, 
were  merely  civil  rites,  and  should  therefore  be 
allowed  to  such  as  abandoned  the  worship  of  "idols" 
and  embraced  the  Christian  religion.  Longobardi, 
however,  considered  that  such  rites  could  in  no 
way  be  permitted  without  serious  injury  to  religion. 
Thus  the  Jesuits  themselves  had  not  by  any 
means  been  at  one  on  this  important  subject ;  yet 
it  is  probable  that  their  Italian  suppleness  would 
have  discovered  a  suitable  formula  had  it  not 
been  for  the  hot  and  uncompromising  zeal  of 
the  Spanish  Dominicans  and  Franciscans,  who 
unanimously  condemned  the  rites.  After  his 
expulsion  from  Fuh  Kien  in  1643,  P-  John 
Baptist  Morales  hastened  home  to  represent  these 
rites  to  the  Pope  as  tainted  with  superstition ; 
Innocent  X.  accepted  this  view,  and  ordered  all 
missionaries  also  to  observe  and  accept  it  until  it 
should  otherwise  appear  good  to  himself  and  to 
the  Apostolic  See.  The  Jesuits,  considering  that 
the  Pope  had  not  had  the  full  arguments  fairly 
laid  before  him,  despatched  P.  Martini  to  convince 
the  Propaganda  that  these  rites  were  really  mere 
civil  forms,  as  originally  defined  by  Ricci. 
Alexander  VII.  now  allowed  this  contrary  view. 
As  the  dispute  still  went  on,  it  was  decided  by 
Clement  IX.  in  1669  that  both  the  decrees  held 
good,  but  that  their  application  must  be  regulated 
according  to  specific  circumstances.    As  things  were 


200  THE   ROMAN    CHURCH  [chap. 

still  uncomfortable,  Innocent  XI.  and  Innocent  XII. 
sent  out  Bishop  Charles  Maigrot  of  the  Missions 
Etrangeres  to  try  and  restore  peace  amongst  the 
rival  missionaries;  in  1693  1^^  ordered  that  the 
term  Lord  of  Heaven  should  be  exclusively  used 
for  "  God "  to  the  exclusion  of  the  (more  ancient) 
terms  "  Emperor-of- Above  "  and  "Heaven";  that 
the  tablets  inscribed  "in  veneration  of  Heaven" 
should  be  removed  from  churches  :  he  laid  down 
that  some  of  the  arguments  submitted  to  Alexander 
VII.  were  untrue;  and  that  his  decree  must  not 
be  taken  to  allow  to  Christians  ancestral  or 
Confucian  worship,  or  the  half-yearly  official 
ceremonies  in  connection  therewith. 

Thus  the  grround  was  once  more  shifted,  and 
"discretion"  had  little  chance  to  compromise.  In 
reply  to  the  fresh  Jesuit  appeal  of  1698,  Innocent 
XII.  had  remitted  the  matter  to  the  Inquisition: 
meanwhile,  to  strengthen  their  position,  the  Peking 
Jesuits  adopted  the  serious  political  step  of  inviting 
the  Emperor  K'ang-hi  to  state  his  royal  views. 
These  were  that  the  rites  in  question  were 
free  from  all  superstition  and  idolatry.  In  1704 
Bishop  Tournon  was  sent  to  Peking  as  Special 
Legate,  but  the  Emperor  having  meanwhile  learnt 
that  the  decision  was  likely  to  go  against  him, 
and  having  found  Maigrot,  whom  he  summoned 
before  him,  too  independent  for  his  taste,  and  too 
exigent  in  the  Pope's  interest,  grew  exasperated ; 
after  some  angry  recriminations  he  drove  him 
out  of  China  (1706).     The  disappointed  Legate  on 


IX.]  AN    INDIGNANT   AUTOCRAT  201 

his  part  also  left  Peking,  and  proclaimed  the  same 
year  at  Nanking  the  final  constitution  of  Clement 
XL,  ordering  the  universal  obedience  of  all  mission- 
aries and  Christians  under  pain  of  excommunication  ; 
and  their  submission  to  the  new  apostolic  constitu- 
tion issued  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  Maigrot's 
mandate.  On  this  the  Emperor  ordered  him  to 
be  delivered  into  the  custody  of  the  Portuguese 
at  Macao,  where  he  was  treated  with  such  indignity 
that  he  ultimately  died  there  in  17 10.  Visdelou, 
the  next  Vicar- Apostolic,  had  to  repair  to  India, 
and  was  unable  to  live  in  China  at  all ;  for  the 
Emperor  had  resolved  that  no  one  in  future  should 
preach  the  Gospel  without  his  licence,  which  again 
would  not  be  granted  to  any  one  who  should  either 
disapprove  the  ancestral  rites  or  ever  contemplate 
leaving  China  for  Europe.  The  Jesuits  were 
the  only  missionaries  who  applied  for  licences ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  after  some  further  protests, 
they  accepted  with  full  submission  the  decrees  of 
the  Apostolic  See  {17 10).  In  1721  the  Legate 
Mezzobarba  arrived  in  Peking,  and  endeavoured  by 
arguments  to  induce  the  triumphant  Emperor  to 
allow  Chinese  Christians  to  obey  the  pontifical 
decrees ;  but  as  Maigrot  had  already  in  1 706 
made  the  fatal  mistake  of  telling  the  Emperor  that 
he  was  "no  judge  in  the  cause,  the  solution  of 
which  lay  solely  with  the  Pope,"  he  had  no  success 
in  his  attempt  to  veer  the  irate  monarch.  From 
Macao  h3  issued  the  same  year  a  pastoral  letter 
"conceding    certain    points";    but    this    vacillation 


202  THE    ROMAN   CHURCH  [chap. 

and  arrogation  of  power  to  himself  only  aroused 
further  dissension  among  the  missionaries,  and 
was  besides  disavowed  by  Clement  XII.  in 
1735.  At  last  his  successor,  Benedict  XIV.,  by 
his  Bull  Ex  quo  singulari  reviewed  and  clinched 
the  whole  unfortunate  business  by  prescribing  an 
oath  for  all  at  any  time  engaged  in  the  China 
mission  work  ;  demanding  the  most  complete  and 
absolute  observance,  under  the  severest  spiritual 
penalties,  of  everything  contained  in  that  his 
constitution,  prohibiting  the  rites  in  every  sense 
without  qualification  or   concession  of  any  kind. 

War  was  now  declared  with  a  vengeance  against 
the  Church;  the  old  Emperor  had  died  in  1721, 
and  his  son,  who  was  a  good  man,  but  personally 
rather  inclined  towards  Taoist  mysticism,  initiated 
a  steady  persecution  of  the  Christians  ;  he  wrote 
several  "orders"  directly  to  Pope  Benedict  XIII., 
making  it  quite  plain  that  he  intended  to  be  sole 
master  in  his  own  empire  ;  he  was  all  the  more 
embittered  against  religion  in  that  his  own  brother 
was  caught  intriguing  with  one  John  Morao,  and 
"disobeying  national  custom  in  order  to  follow 
the  teaching  of  outlandish  bonzes " — exactly  what 
had  happened,  as  already  related,  when  the  first 
Buddhists  came  in  a.d.  67.  Over  300  churches 
were  either  promptly  destroyed  or  converted  into 
pagan  temples ;  it  was  only  their  mathematical 
science  and  general  usefulness  that  exempted  a 
handful  of  missionaries  from  exile.  Persecutions 
continued    under   the    reign   of  the    next    emperor, 


IX.]  FALL   OF   THE   JESUITS  203 

K'ien-lung,  perhaps  the  cleverest  man  who  ever 
reigned  over  China ;  he  was  not  disposed  to 
tolerate  the  intermeddling  of  any  priests — Taoists, 
Buddhists,  or  otherwise — in  the  affairs  of  his  State. 
In  the  year  1773  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  abolished 
altogether  by  Clement  XIV.,  and  the  members  of 
their  China  Mission  were  now  compelled  to  bend 
the  neck  and  work  as  secular  priests  under  ordinary 
episcopal  jurisdiction.  Two  years  later  the  splendid 
Peking  cathedral  was  destroyed  by  fire ;  but 
K'ien-lung  was  sufficiently  broad-mindeci  to  sub- 
scribe towards  a  new  one ;  in  fact  he,  like  his 
predecessors  and  successors,  would  have  ''lived 
and  let  live,"  had  the  missionaries  been  content 
to  respect  the  law  of  China.  The  first  Lazarist 
bishop,  Mgr.  Raux,  arrived  there  in  1784,  and 
ever  since  that  the  Peking  cure  has  been  in  the 
hands  of  the  Mission  Congregation,  as  the  Lazarists 
are  officially  termed. 

The  rest  of  the  history  of  Catholic  Missions 
in  China  down  to  the  English  war  of  1842  and 
the  opening  of  five  treaty  ports  is  a  somewhat 
monotonous  though,  of  course,  sad  repetition  of 
"  martyrdoms  "  (being  caught),  "  persecutions  " 
(enforcement  of  the  law),  and  hide-and-seek.  The 
French  Revolution  did  not  improve  matters  for 
them,  as  may  be  supposed,  and  the  missions  were 
reduced  to  great  extremities.  Louis  XVIII. 
revived  the  abolished  societies  of  the  Missions 
Etrangeres,  St.  Lazare,  and  the  St.  Esprit 
(1815-1816);    and    in     1842     the    Jesuits,     whose 


204  THE   ROMAN   CHURCH  [chap. 

Society  had  been  restored  by  Pius  VII.  in  1814, 
were  entrusted  with  the  Nanking  mission,  where 
they  still  are  at  work.  Gregory  XVI.  divided 
China,  including  Manchuria  and  Mongolia,  into  a 
number  of  Vicariats-Apostolic,  over  which  he  placed 
bishops  in  partibus,  nominally  under  the  real  See  of 
Macao.  After  the  English  war,  Louis  Philippe  sent 
an  envoy  to  China,  and  an  edict  favourable  to 
Christianity  was  obtained ;  but  the  unsatisfactory 
condition  of  native  Christians  remained  about  the 
same,  and  the  missionaries  were  not  allowed  to 
penetrate  into  the  interior :  still,  the  conditions  were 
easier,  and  many  missionaries,  as,  for  instance,  the 
celebrated  Abb6  Hue  and  his  companion  Gabet, 
who  worked  their  way  as  Mongols  through 
"Egrigaia"  to  Lhasa,  succeeded  in  carrying  the 
faith  to  the  most  remote  places.  In  a  short  space 
of  time  30,000  Christians  could  once  more  be 
counted  in  the  empire.  The  Emperor  Hien-feng 
(husband  of  the  present  masterful  Dowager,  who 
patronises  both  Buddhist  and  Taoist  archimandrites), 
was,  it  is  said,  brought  up  or  nursed  by  a  Christian 
matron,  and  at  first  seemed,  according  to  missionary 
accounts,  inclined  to  favour  Christianity  ;  but  during 
his  feeble  reign  (1851-1861)  broke  out  the  second 
European  war  and  the  T'ai-p'Ing  rebellion ;  the 
rebel  leader  at  first  gained  some  foreign  (Protestant) 
sympathy  on  account  of  his  Christian  professions  ; 
but  when  he  began  to  masquerade  as  the  brother 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  followers  to  indulge  in 
promiscuous    massacres,    his    head    was    sought    by 


IX.]  A    PIOUS   FRAUD  205 

Chinese  and  Europeans  alike  as  a  lupinunt  caput. 
Nanking  fell  in  1864,  and  he  committed  suicide. 
After  the  final  peace  of  i860  with  the  Allies,  the 
Emperor  had  promised  that  all  the  Church  property 
seized  throughout  a  century  or  more  of  persecutions 
should  be  restored  to  it ;  the  Peking  cathedral  was 
repaired  and  cleaned ;  and  Mgr.  Mouly,  who  had  up 
to  that  time  been  working  in  secret,  then  assumed 
public  charge  of  his  flock.  It  was  now  that  the 
Abb6  Delamarre,  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
French  Minister,  introduced  into  the  Chinese  text  of 
the  treaty  the  famous  clause,  which  was  only  detected 
by  the  Chinese  when  too  late,  "giving  permission  to 
the  French  missionaries  to  hire  or  purchase  lands 
in  all  the  provinces  and  to  build  upon  such  at  their 
pleasure."  The  British  Ministers  have  always 
declined  to  avail  themselves  (under  the  most- 
favoured  nation  clause)  of  this  provision.  By  1870 
there  were  254  European  and  about  150  native 
priests,  with  404,530  converts. 

The  Tientsin  massacre  of  1870,  aimed  chiefly 
against  the  French  missionaries  there,  could  not  be 
adequately  avenged  on  account  of  the  Franco- 
German  war  having  broken  out ;  Catholic  influence 
in  China,  which  henceforth  might  be  considered 
synonymous  with  French  influence,  fell  to  zero,  but 
received  some  accession  after  the  Franco-Chinese 
war  of  1884:  it  was  reserved  for  M.  Gerard, 
French  Minister  from  1893  to  1897,  to  restore  the 
interests  of  the  Roman  Church  committed  to 
France's   care    to    their    zenith    of    glory.       After 


2o6  THE   ROMAN    CHURCH  [chap. 

prolonged  negotiations,  the  Lazarist  bishop,  Mgr. 
Favier,^  arranged  for  the  transfer  of  K'ien-lung's 
cathedral  to  a  site  outside  the  walls  less  com- 
promising to  Imperial  Manchu  dignity ;  on  the 
other  hand,  he  obtained  from  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment, for  all  missionaries,  the  concession  of  Chinese 
official  rank.  Whether  all  the  Vicars  -  Apostolic 
will  avail  themselves  of  this,  or  will,  like  the 
Protestants,  decline  to  accept  it,  is  a  question  which 
lies  with  the  unknown  future  ;  the  other  Catholics 
are  certainly  not  bound  by  any  arrangement  the 
Bishop  at  Peking  (who  is  but  a  peer,  and  not  even 
primus  inter  pares)  may  see  fit  to  make  ;  and  it  is 
very  doubtful  if  the  wary  Jesuits,  who,  however,  are 
much  too  shrewd  to  "  give  anything  away,"  will  find 
that  it  is  worth  their  while  to  make  free  use  of  so 
compromising  a  gift. 

At  present  the  Roman  missions  in  China  are 
divided  into  five  regions,  and  the  thirty-two  Vicariats 
of  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  have  been  increased  to 
thirty-eight,  in  addition  to  which  there  are  two 
Prefectures-General  and  one  mere  "mission."  In 
Chih  Li  there  are  four ;  three  Lazarist,  and  one 
Jesuit.  In  Manchuria,  two;  Missions  Etrangeres 
of  Paris.  In  Mongolia,  three  ;  Missions  Etrangeres 
of  Scheut.  In  North  Ho  Nan,  one ;  Missions 
Etrangeres  of  Milan.  Total,  first  region,  about 
200,000  Christians,  50,000  catechumens,  12,000 
churches  or  chapels.  In  Shan  Tung,  three  ;  two 
Franciscan,  one  Missions  Etrangeres  of  Steyl.     In 

^  Died  in  April  last  almost  on  the  day  these  lines  were  written. 


IX.]  CATHOLIC   STATISTICS  207 

Shan  Si,  two  Franciscan.  In  Shen  Si,  one 
Franciscan,  one  Missions  Etrangeres  of  Rome. 
Kan  Suh  and  Sin  Kiang,  one  Belgian.  Total, 
second  region,  about  120,000  Christians,  80,000 
catechumens,  900  chapels.  In  Kiang  Nan  (An 
Hwei,  Nanking,  and  Shanghai),  one,  Jesuit.  In 
Cheh  Kiang,  one,  Lazarist.  In  Kiang  Si  three, 
Lazarist.  In  Hu  Peh,  three  Franciscan.  In  South 
Ho  Nan  one.  Missions  Etrangeres  of  Milan.  In 
Hu  Nan  two,  Franciscan  and  Lazarist.  Total,  third 
region,  240,000  Christians,  130,000  catechumens, 
1700  chapels.  In  Kwei  Chou,  one;  Sz  Ch'wan, 
three ;  Yun  Nan,  one ;  Tibet,  one ;  all  Missions 
Etrangeres  of  Paris.  Total,  fourth  region. 
Christians  120,000;  catechumens  (not  given) ;  300 
churches  and  chapels.  In  Kwang  Tung  and 
Kwang  Si  each  one,  Missions  Etrangeres  of  Paris. 
In  Full  Kien  two,  Dominicans.  In  Hongkong 
(which  is  not,  however,  China)  one.  Missions 
Etrangeres  of  Milan.  Total,  fifth  region,  110,000 
Christians,  30,000  catechumens,  700  churches.  All 
the  above  are  supposed  to  be  in  some  way 
under  the  ancient  Diocese  of  Macao,  which  was 
the  only  one  preserved  of  the  three  original  Sees, 
when  Peking  and  Nanking  were  abolished  previous 
to  Pope  Gregory's  changes.  The  Two  Kwang 
establishments  are  only  Prefectures-Apostolic,  and 
the  Belgian  one  in  Kan  Suh  is  only  a  "  mission." 
Thus,  including  the  thirty-eight  Vicariats-Apostolic, 
there  are  forty-two  mutually  independent  Roman 
missions,    with     1063    European    and    493    native 


2o8  THE   ROMAN    CHURCH  [chap.  ix. 

priests,  4961  places  of  worship,  and  803,000 
Christians.  Formosa  used  to  be  attached  to  the 
Amoy  Dominican  Vicariat  (Fuh  Kien) :  it  has  10 
European  priests,  and  17  churches  ;  1900  Christians, 
and  200  catechumens ;  but  now  it  is  Japanese 
territory.  The  above  figures  are  mostly  for  1903, 
many  for   1904,  a  few  only  for   1902. 

To  give  some  idea  of  the  progress  made  since 
the  returns  of  1866,  it  may  be  stated  that,  in  that 
year,  there  were  263  European  and  243  native 
priests,  having  care  over  383,580  Christians.  There 
were  22  Bishops  and  one  Superior  at  work,  including 
the  heads  of  the  Two  Kwang  missions  (then  joined 
in  one).  Chih  Li  (4)  and  Sz  Ch'wan  (3)  were  the 
only  provinces  with  more  than  one  bishop.  Shen 
Si  and  Kan  Suh  were  joined  in  one  ;  and  Ho  Nan 
had  only  a  Superior.  In  the  year  1873  there  were 
278  European  and  233  native  priests,  with  430,000 
Christians,  under  21  bishops,  three  provicars  (Hu 
Peh  and  Ho  Nan),  and  one  prefect  (Hongkong); 
but  these  figures,  unlike  those  of  1866,  do  not 
include  Tibet,  Mongolia,  and  Manchuria.  Shortly 
afterwards  (1875)  Hongkong  and  Ho  Nan  were 
made  bishoprics  (Bishop  Volonteri,  the  first  of  Ho 
Nan  died  in  December  1904);  a  third  provicariat 
was  added  to  Hu  Peh. 


CHAPTER   X 

PROTESTANTISM 

Morrison  the  first  Protestant  missionary  in  China. — Sir  George 
Staunton  at  Canton.  —  Morrison  translates  the  Bible.  —  His 
Dictionary.  —  Lockhart's  medical  mission.  —  Gutzlaff  and 
Medhurst. — Dr  Legge  and  his  works. — Alexander  Wylie. — 
Scarcity  of  interpreters. — New  era  created  by  the  Treaty  of 
Tientsin. — The  T'ai-p'ing  Rebellion. — China  Inland  Mission. — 
Missionary  activity  discouraged  by  British  Ministers. — 
"Missionary  disturbances,"  and  "gunboat  policy."  —  Statistics 
of  Protestant  missionaries  in  1869. — A  word  for  the  "China 
Inland."  —  Mortality  amongst  Protestant  ladies.  —  Tientsin 
massacre  and  Prince  Kung^s  missionary  circular.  — Indignation 
of  the  missionaries. — Statistics  for  1877,  the  year  of  famine  ; 
valuable  missionary  assistance.  —  Civilising  influences  of 
missionaries  not  dependent  on  their  religion.  —  China  grows 
aggressive  with  success  and  prosperity. — The  Japanese  war. — 
Statistics  for  1898  ;  exceptional  position  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission. — Now  as  many  missionaries  as  traders  in  China. — 
Missionary  influence  in  America  and  Great  Britain . —  Most 
recent  missionary  hopes  of  success  as  expressed  by  a  bishop. — 
Regrettable  squabbles  between  Protestants  and  Catholics. — 
Japan's  excellent  examples. 

It  may  be  said,  in  a  general  sense,  that  no 
organised  attempts  to  convert  the  Chinese  to 
Christianity  were  made  by  Protestant  missionaries 
until  after  the  second  war  and  the  Treaty  or 
Treaties  of  1858- 1860.  But  that  does  not  by  any 
means  signify  that  there  were  none  in  China. 
The    very    first    Protestant    missionary    to    land    in 

O  '°9 


2IO  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

there  seems  to  have  been  Robert  Morrison,  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  who  reached 
Macao  in  September  1807,  after  a  voyage  from 
New  York  of  113  days.  No  doubt  the  mission 
of  Lord  Macartney  to  Peking  in  1793,  and  the 
fact  that  his  former  page,  George  Staunton,  was 
in  1807  serving  the  East  India  Company  as 
secretary  at  the  Canton  factory,  had  something  to 
do  with  this  new  missionary  enterprise.  Morrison's 
first  notion  was  to  Hve  on  Chinese  food  and  wear 
the  "pigtail";  but  he  soon  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  this  course  was  not  the  wisest.  One  of  the 
first  things  he  heard  from  Staunton  (afterwards 
Sir  George)  was  that  he  must  look  out  for  Roman 
Catholic  jealousy  at  Macao,  which  place,  in  fact, 
the  English  somewhat  rashly  occupied  for  a  short 
time  in  1808.  In  18 13  his  associate  Dr  Milne 
arrived  with  his  wife  to  assist,  and  from  that  date 
Morrison  preached  regularly  at  both  Macao  and 
Canton.  Having  studied  Hebrew,  Latin,  and 
theology,  he  was,  after  he  had  set  to  work  to 
learn  Chinese,  quite  a  competent  man  for  the 
task  he  undertook  of  translating  the  whole  Bible 
into  Chinese  ;  George  IV.  accepted  a  copy  from 
him  when  he  went  home  on  leave  in  1824.  His 
well  -  known  Chinese  dictionary,  though  com- 
paratively obsolete  since  the  labours  of  Sir  Thomas 
Wade  and  Dr  Williams  have  placed  the  "  mandarin  " 
dialects  on  a  more  scientific  basis,  was  subsequently 
printed  at  the  cost  of  the  East  India  Company. 
In    1829    Morrison    was    again    at    Macao,    where 


X.]  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  BIBLE  211 

at  a  complimentary  meeting  his  many  admirers 
subscribed  to  present  him  with  his  portrait ;  he 
died  in  1834.  The  American  Board  Mission  sent 
out  Mr  E.  C.  (afterwards  Dr)  Bridgeman  in  1830; 
and  then  the  medical  missionary,  Dr  Lockhart,  was 
sent  out  by  the  London  Mission  in  1839.  The 
first  became  widely  known  in  due  time  as  the 
author  of  a  Chinese-English  Chrestomathy,  and 
the  latter  first  established  the  hospital  at  Canton 
which,  under  the  subsequent  able  management  of 
Dr  Hobson,  Dr  Carmichael,  and  Dr  John  Kerr, 
has  been  such  a  powerful  civilising  and  conciliating 
agent  in  the  south  of  China.  Another  distinguished 
American,  S.  Wells  Williams,  came  out  as  a  printer 
for  the  Board  Mission  in  1833. 

Dr  Carl  Gutzlaff,  a  German,  but  of  the 
Netherlands  Missionary  Society,  had  done  work  in 
Java,  and  also  with  the  English  missionary,  Tomlin, 
in  Siam,  before  he  appeared  in  Macao  in  1831. 
He  seems  to  have  spent  some  years  in  travelling 
up  and  down  the  coast  as  an  interpreter  for  the 
opium  ships,  and  occasionally  in  junks,  converting, 
or  trying  to  convert  the  rough  Chinese  seamen, 
and  picking  up  various  local  dialects.  He  became 
a  fast  friend  of  Morrison,  who  assisted  him  in 
every  possible  way.  He  and  Dr  Medhurst,  who 
had  also  served  as  a  missionary  in  Java,  busied 
themselves  about  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  Chinese.  He  did  not  approve  of  the  opium 
trade,  and  in  1839  was  glad  to  find  more  respectable 
occupation    as    translator    in    serving    the    British 


212  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

Government,  then  on  the  verge  of  hostilities  with 
China;  in  1842  he  obtained  the  post  of  third 
interpreter,  and  assisted  in  arranging  the  con- 
ditions of  peace  at  Nanking.  In  1843  Medhurst 
established  the  London  Missionary  Society's 
Shanghai  branch  ;  he  also,  by  his  dictionary 
and  other  labours,  has  left  a  sinological  reputation 
of  no  mean  calibre  behind  him;  he  died  in  1857. 
Gutzlaff,  meanwhile,  remained  in  the  south,  where 
he  founded  the  Rhenish  and  Basel  Missions,  the 
former  for  the  speakers  of  the  Punti  group,  the 
latter  for  the  speakers  of  the  Hakka  group  of 
dialects  in  Kwang  Tung  province;  in  1847  four 
missionaries,  two  for  each  German  mission,  were 
sent  out  to  reinforce  him.  In  spite  of  his  zeal 
and  learninor,  Gutzlaff  seems  to  have  been  a 
simple-minded  and  rather  credulous  man,  of  which 
fact  advantage  was  eagerly  taken  by  the  native 
colporteurs,  who  exploited  his  want  of  foresight, 
and  thus  somewhat  marred  his  reputation. 

Dr  Legge  of  the  London  Missionary  Society 
arrived  from  Malacca  in  Hongkong  (which  had 
now  become  British  territory)  in  1843  ;  besides 
establishing  a  college  and  church  there,  he  founded 
a  mission  at  Pok-lo  on  the  mainland.  His  an- 
notated translations  of  the  Chinese  classics,  and 
numerous  other  literary  labours,  have  given  im- 
perishable lustre  to  his  name.  In  1844  a  branch 
mission  of  the  same  enterprising  society  was 
established  by  Rev.  John  Stronach  at  Amoy, 
where  already  in   1842   Dr  Boone  of  the  American 


X.]  THE  DEEPLY  REGRETTED  WYLIE       213 

Episcopal  Church  had  made  a  beginning  ; 
followed  in  1843  by  Dr  Hepburn,  M.D.,  of  the 
American  Presbyterian  Mission,  just  deceased  at 
the  age  of  ninety.  In  1850  Bishop  Smith  came 
to  Honofkonor,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  at  once  set 
to  work  to  discover  all  he  could  about  the  Chinese 
Jews  in  Ho  Nan  province.  One  of  the  most 
remarkable  and  lovable  of  the  Protestant  missionaries 
of  the  old  school  was  Alexander  Wylie,  who  has 
been  styled  the  "  Livingstone  of  China."  He 
originally  came  out  in  1847  as  a  printer  for 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  for  whom  he 
subsequently  did  much  colporteur  and  general 
work  ;  having  lost  his  wife  within  a  year  of  his 
marriage  to  her,  he  thenceforth  resolutely  gave 
himself  up  to  a  solitary  life  of  labour  and  self- 
sacrifice  ;  even  the  Jesuits,  who  are  no  lovers  of 
Protestants,  habitually  speak  of  ''  le  regrett^^MyYi^J' 
whose  splendid  sinological  labours  take  a  place 
in  the  highest  rank  for  scrupulous  care,  fairness, 
courtesy,  and  trustworthiness.  He  was  the  humblest 
and  most  tolerant  of  men  ;  but  at  the  same  time 
inexorably  calm,  persevering,  and  determined  in 
following  out  his  own  line  of  conduct.  Unfortun- 
ately, his  immense  powers  were  weakened  by  a 
stroke  of  paralysis  in  1883  ;  his  eyesight  then 
failed  him,  and  he  gradually  passed  away  somewhat 
sadly  at  home  in  1887,  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy- 
one.  The  above  list  by  no  means  exhausts  the 
tale  of  the  " pre  -  Tientsin  treaty"  Protestant 
missionaries,    but    it    contains    the    most    prominent 


214  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

names  from  a  literary  and  historical  point  of  view. 
The  spiritual  results  were  naturally  not  very  great, 
for  in  those  days  Chinese  was  very  little  under- 
stood— at  least  from  a  literary  point  of  view, — and 
a  competent  interpreter  for  official  purposes  was 
indeed  a  rara  avis  in  '' terris  coelestibusr 

After   the   final    treaty  of    i860,   which    put  an 
end    to    the    Allied   War,    a    new   era   opened    for 
China;    missionaries    were    no    longer    obliged    to 
confine  their  efforts   to  the   five  treaty  ports,   and, 
moreover,    a    large    number    of    new    ports    were 
opened,     and     therefore     available    as     bases     for 
pioneers.     The   German   missionaries   in   the  south 
had   had  to  fly  for  their  lives   in    1856,   but  were 
now   able    to    go   back    to    their   posts    in   a    more 
legalised  way.     Hitherto  no  Protestant  missionaries 
had    ever   adopted    the    Chinese    costume  ;    on    the 
other   hand,   all    the    Roman  Catholic    missionaries 
had    always    done    so.      A    perfect    avalanche    of 
zealous    Protestant   preachers   now  descended  upon 
China,    Americans    adding    their    numbers    to    the 
existing   British   and    German    squadrons.     By  the 
year    1864   there   were    190  missionaries    belonging 
to      twenty  -  four     different      Protestant      societies, 
occupying     eleven     principal     stations,     mosdy,    of 
course,    the    thirteen    old    and    new    treaty  -  ports, 
with  about   twice  as   many  oudying  pioneer  posts. 
The    first    attempts    to    setde    in    Hangchow    were 
made  joindy    in    1859    by    Rev    J.    S.    (afterwards 
Bishop)  Burdon,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
and  by  Dr   Nevius,  an  American  ;    the  T'ai-p'ings 


X.]  A  BLOOMER  COSTUME  215 

occupied    the    place    from    1862    to    1864,   and   that 
circumstance  of  course  put  an   end  to  any  chance 
of    preaching    there.      When     the    rebellion     was 
completely  crushed,  a  new  prospect  again   opened 
for  China.     Mr  Taylor  of  the   new  China   Inland 
Mission   appeared    upon    the    scene    in     1866    and 
established  stations  in   Ch^h   Kiang  province  ;    his 
colleague,  the  well-known   missionary,   Rev.   J.   W. 
Stevenson  (afterwards  at  Bhamo  in  Burma),  held  the 
fort  at  Shao-hing  near  Ningpo  in  1868,  and  gradu- 
ally these  inland  operations  spread  all  over  China. 
Mr   Taylor  died  on  the   3rd   June  as  these  words 
were  written  (1905).     The  distinguishing  features  of 
the  Taylor  Mission,  as  it  used  at  first  to  be  called, 
were  that  no  pecuniary  support  was  guaranteed,  and 
that  the  missioners  wore  Chinese  clothes.    There  was 
no  objection  to  this  so  far  as  males  were  concerned  ; 
for   indeed    the    average    European    civilian    in   the 
perspiring    East     looks     more     distinguished,     and 
certainly    cleaner,    in    Chinese    dress    than    in    his 
own :    but    when    the    ladies    began    to    don    short 
Chinese    trousers,    the    combination    of    large    feet 
(which  of  course  they  could  not    "squeeze")    and 
European    chignons    (for   of  course    the    "tea-pot" 
style   was    too    troublesome,    and    only    compatible 
with    Chinese     neck    pillows)    had     the    effect    of 
suggesting  to  the   prurient  Chinese   mind   feminine 
associations    of    a    highly    undesirable    nature ;    so 
by    degrees    the    women,    more    especially    out    of 
doors,  went  back    to  European  attire.     Meanwhile 
Sir  Rutherford  Alcock  (1865- 1869)  and  his  bench- 


2i6  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

man,  later  successor,  Mr  (afterwards  Sir  Thomas) 
Wade,  found  the  activity  of  the  missionaries  rather 
embarrassing  to  their  diplomatic  success  at  Peking ; 
things  were  fairly  quiet,  however,  until  the  question 
of  treaty  revision  came  forward  in  1867,  when 
the  Chinese  officials  initiated  a  concerted  system 
of  "heading  off"  the  enterprising  proselytisers, 
and  thus  indirectly  driving  them  back  to  the 
treaty-ports.  In  1868  there  were  some  persecutions 
in  Formosa  (then  an  integral  part  of  Fuh  Kien 
province),  in  connection  with  which  Bluebook  No. 
3  of  1869  was  issued;  the  "gunboat  policy"  of 
the  Consul  there  was  not  approved,  and  he  was 
given  to  understand  by  his  superior  at  Peking  that 
his  "conscience"  must  subordinate  itself  to  more 
mundane  considerations  of  policy.  The  invidious 
expression  "missionary  disturbances"  used  by 
Sir  R.  Alcock  was  not  to  the  taste  of  the  societies 
whose  members  were  being  hustled  about,  and 
it  was  even  hinted  by  them  that  the  interests  of 
the  British  camphor  merchants  in  Formosa  were 
given  remarkable  prominence  in  a  State  paper 
ostensibly  devoted  to  the  "missionary  question." 
At  Yang-chou  Fu,  opposite  the  treaty  port  of  Chin- 
kiang — a  place  whose  religious  history  has  so  often 
been  called  to  witness  in  this  book — the  literates 
incited  the  people  to  destroy  the  Protestant  chapels 
of  the  Inland  Mission ;  Consul  (afterwards  Sir 
Walter)  Medhurst  put  the  gunboat  policy  Into 
vigorous  and  effective  action  here  ;  but  his  superiors 
were  by  no  means  so  pleased  as   the  missionaries 


X.]  DISTINGUISHED    PROTESTANTS         217 

were  at  his  success,  which  brought  him  no  official 
glory. 

It  may  be  useful  at  this  point  ^  (1869)  to  give 
some  idea  of  Protestant  development  in  China. 
At  Peking  there  were  two  British  and  (including 
T'ungchow)  five  American  missions,  with  four 
and  eight  married  pairs  respectively ;  besides 
unmarried  Americans  of  both  sexes,  making  a 
total  of  eight  British  and  twenty-three  American 
missionaries.  Those  of  the  former  category  who 
have  made  their  literary  mark  include  Bishop 
Burdon,  Dr  Edkins,'^  and  (medical)  Dr  Dudgeon  ; 
of  the  Americans,  Bishop  Schereschewsky  and 
Dr  Martin.  The  American  charge  d'affaires,  Dr 
Williams,  was  an  ex-missionary,  and  a  distinguished 
Chinese  scholar  to  boot.  At  Tientsin  there  were 
two  British  missions,  five  married  pairs  and  one 
bachelor ;  and  one  American  mission,  one  pair 
and  a  bachelor ;  total,  fourteen  missionaries.  Mr 
John  Innocent  and  Mr  Jonathan  Lees  are  the 
best  known  names  among  the  British  section  of 
them.  At  Chefoo  there  were  three  British  and  one 
American  missions,  each  with  a  married  pair,  and 
an  extra  American  bachelor.  The  Rev.  Alexander 
Williamson,  a  gigantic  imposing  man  and  a  dis- 
tinguished    inland     traveller,     leaves     the    literary 

^  This  was  the  year  in  which  the  writer  of  these  humble  remarks 
arrived  in  Peking,  and  consequently  he  had  the  honour  at  various 
times,  then  and  afterwards,  to  meet  most  of  the  missionaries  named. 
Few  of  them  then  bore  the  titles  of  honour  here  given  to  them. 

-  Dr  Edkins,  a  distinguished  orientalist,  arrived  in  China  in  1848, 
and  died  an  octogenarian  at  Shanghai  last  April. 


2i8  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

honours   of    this    batch    with    the    National    Bible 
Society    of    Scotland.       At    the    Russian    trading 
"  port "   of   Kalgan    (Great    Wall),    there    was   one 
American    mission    of    four   members ;    and    at    a 
second  T'ungchow  (north  of   Shanghai)  were  two 
American  missions  with  five  married  pairs  and  two 
unmarried  ladies.     There  were  no  more  Protestant 
missionaries  north  of  the  Yangtsze  River  except  Mr 
J.  Hudson  Taylor  and  Mr  Reid,  who  had  just  been 
so  roughly  attacked  at  Yang-chou   Fu.     Shanghai 
had  four  American   missions    to  one  single  British 
mission  ;    twenty  -  two   missionaries    of  both   sexes, 
besides    one    American    at    Soochow.       The    Rev. 
W.    Muirhead   (British)    and   Rev.   Matthew  Yates 
(American),  both   dating  from   1847,  have  left  dis- 
tinguished   memories     behind     them,     the     former 
especially  in  connection  with  the   1877- 1878  famine 
relief.      He    died    in     1901.      At    Chinkiang   there 
were  only   "  Taylor "    missionaries,    this   being  the 
only  treaty-port  unsupplied  with    "  regulars "  ;    and 
it  was  here  that  the  ladies'  costumes  first  attracted 
the  unfavourable    notice    and    criticism   of  at   least 
one   of  their  own   lay   countrymen  :  there   were    in 
all  thirty-one  Inland  Mission  employes;  but,  so  far, 
they  had  not  got  beyond  the  two  provinces  of  Cheh 
Kiang   and    Kiang   Su ;    after   the   Yang-chou    Fu 
"  row,"  word  was  passed  round  by  Mr  Taylor  that 
his    missionaries    were    not    only    to    depend    upon 
Providence  for  funds,  but  also  for  succour  in   the 
event  of  persecution  ;  and  that  they  were  to  give 
consuls  as  wide  a  berth  as  possible,  except  in  cases 


X.]  A  GRAND  OLD  MAN  219 

of  urgent  necessity ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that, 
since  then,  the  Taylor  Mission  has  consistently  acted 
with  commendable  independence  and  dignity  in  the 
matter  of  lying   quietly  in    the    often    very  uneasy 
beds   its   members   have    prepared    for   themselves. 
Many  of  the   Inland   missionaries  have   been    men 
of  means,  who  have,  so  to  speak,  sold  all  they  had 
and   given    it    to    the    poor    (Chinaman) ;    certainly 
none  live    in    luxury,   or   even   in   comfort,   beyond 
the  requirements    of  decency ;    and    there    are    not 
lacking  members  of  the   mission   who  have   found 
time  to  do  good  literary  work  too.      But  to  return 
to   the   ports :    at  Hankow,    two    British,    and    one 
American    mission    with    eighteen    missionaries    of 
both    sexes ;    the    fine    old  veteran,    Griffith    John, 
is    still    there    hard     at    work.       Messrs    Bryson, 
Scarborough,     Bryant,    and    Hill    have    left    their 
mark,    and    Dr    F.    Porter    Smith    achieved   some 
sinological    reputation.      At    Kewkiang    there    was 
one    American    married    pair.       Ningpo,    including 
Hangchow,  was   particularly  strong,    with    twenty- 
one    American    and    nineteen    British    missionaries, 
in    four    and    two    missions    respectively.       Bishop 
Moule  and  his    brother   are  very  respected  British 
names    at    Ningpo.       On    the    American    side    the 
versatile    Dr    Lord,    who   also   at    one    time   acted 
as   U.S.  Consul,    was    sufficiently   vigorous  to  out- 
last three  wives.     Unfortunately  he  and  his  fourth 
wife — about    forty    years   his    junior — were   carried 
off  together   by    cholera    in     1887.       The    Chinese 
Recorder  and  Missionary  Journal,  forgetful  of  the 


220  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

three  first  wives,  and  of  a  certain  question  raised  in 
Holy  Writ,  concludes  its  obituary  notice  thus: 

"  What  a  happy  surprise  to  each  it  must  have 
been,  on  entering  their  heavenly  abode,  to  meet  the 
other  there ! " 

At  least  three  others  of  the  distinguished 
scholars  above  named  had  three  wives,  and  this 
fact,  so  natural  in  a  trying  climate  like  that  of 
China,  has  led  to  some  ill-natured  remarks  about 
"  missionary  luxury "  which  are  extremely  unfair. 
Archdeacon  Wolfe,  after  forty-three  years'  service, 
still  represents  the  only  British  mission  then  (1869) 
in  existence  at  Foochow  ;  besides  his  wife,  he  had 
two  other  married  pairs  to  assist  him.  There 
were  seven  American  married  couples  and  three 
spinsters  in  two  missions  ;  the  Rev.  S.  L.  Baldwin 
is  responsible  for  an  excellent  local  Chinese- English 
dictionary.  At  Amoy  there  were  twelve  British 
workers  in  two  missions  ;  eight  American  in  one. 
Dr  Douglas  of  the  English  Presbyterian  Mission 
gave  the  world  an  excellent  "  Amoy  Dictionary "  ; 
Dr.  J.  Macgowan,  of  the  London  Mission,  and 
Rev.  J.  Sadler  are  well-known  local  names.  The 
Formosa  missionaries  who  "disturbed"  Sir  R. 
Alcock  were  Mr  and  Mrs  Maxwell  and  Mr  and  Mrs 
Ritchie,  also  of  the  English  Presbyterian.  The 
same  mission  had  six  missionaries  at  Swatow  ;  the 
American  Baptists  four  more.  Dr  and  Mrs  Legge 
were  absent  from  Hongkong  in  1869,  but  there 
were  three  others  of  the   London   and  two  of  the 


X.]  THE   TIENTSIN    MASSACRE  221 

Church  Mission.  The  Basel  Mission  counted 
eleven  members,  including  Mr  and  Mrs  Lechler  ;  Mr 
Lechler  had  joined  Gutzlaff  in  1847.  There  were 
also  four  ladies  of  the  Berlin  Ladies'  Mission.  At 
Canton  eight  British  Wesleyans,  and  four  of  the 
London  Mission  ;  Dr  Eitel  (a  German)  particularly- 
distinguished  for  profound  sinological  work.  Dr 
Chalmers,  equally  profound,  came  from  Hongkong 
in  1858,  and  seems  to  have  been  absent  in  1869. 
Three  American  missions  and  an  "independent" 
pair,  thirteen  in  all.  Dr  Kerr,  the  much  -  loved 
medical  missionary,  was  there ;  he  died  in  1901. 
Dr  Happer,  Mr  Preston,  Mr  Noyes,  and  Mr  Graves 
all  left  their  mark  locally  as  good  men.  The 
Rhenish  Mission  had  seven  members,  of  whom 
Dr  E.  Faber  was  subsequently  by  far  the  most  dis- 
tinguished. The  Berlin  Mission  had  six  members. 
Total  for  all  China,  301  missionaries,  including  lay 
and  native  workers. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  when,  after  the 
Tientsin  Massacre  in  1870,  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment, by  way  of  staving  off  further  responsibility 
for  "popular  indignation,"  concocted  its  celebrated 
circular  of  1871,  calling  upon  the  Treaty  Powers 
to  reconsider  their  missionary  attitude  :  at  that  time 
Germany  scarcely  yet  counted  as  a  Power,  and 
practically  the  "  Powers  "  meant  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States,  so  far  as  Protestants  were  con- 
cerned. Prince  Kung  suggested  that,  as  regards 
children  for  orphanages  (the  immediate  pretext  for 
the    massacre    of    the    French    nuns   at    Tientsin), 


222  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

charity  might  well  begin  at  home ;  but  that  if 
missionaries  were  determined  to  trouble  themselves 
about  the  souls  of  Chinese  infants,  these  charitable 
establishments  should  be  open  to  Chinese  inspection 
and  official  supervision.  Women  should  not  be 
allowed  to  go  about  as  missionaries,  and  the  sexes 
should  be  carefully  kept  apart  in  chapels  and 
schools,  in  accordance  with  Chinese  ideas  of 
propriety.  Missionaries  should  be  compelled  to 
conform  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  place 
wherein  they  might  be,  and  should  not  ridicule  or 
cast  aspersions  upon  Chinese  religious  or  functional 
practices.  Converts  and  ordinary  Chinese  should 
be  in  every  way  subject  to  the  same  laws,  and 
missionaries  should  not  be  suffered  to  intermeddle 
in  disputes  between  native  Christians  and  the 
authorities  or  fellow  -  villagers.  Passports  should 
not  be  transferable,  and  should  always  name  the 
precise  places  to  which  the  missionary  was  going. 
Converts  should  be  carefully  enquired  into  before 
acceptance,  and  their  names  should  be  reported  to 
the  officials.  Missionaries  should  not  make  use  of 
seals  after  the  fashion  of  Chinese  mandarins,  and 
in  the  presence  of  mandarins  they  should  perform 
the  customary  acts  of  obeisance  required  from 
unofficial  Chinese.  They  should  not  lay  claim  to 
property  under  alleged  old  titles,  and  such  property 
as  they  might  acquire  should  be  registered  in  the 
name  of  a  native ;  etc.,  etc.  These  rules  were 
reasonable  enough  if  it  had  been  possible  to  accept 
the  principle  of  Chinese  good  faith  in  the  matter. 


X.]  AN  UNSYMPATHETIC  ENVOY  223 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  nagging  and  mutual 
recrimination  over  their  preparation  between  Sir 
Thomas  Wade  and  the  ministers  of  the  Tsung-li 
Yamen,  and  it  need  hardly  be  said  that  the 
Protestant  missionaries  were  up  in  arms  at  once 
so  soon  as  the  rules  "leaked  out."  Mr  Griffith 
John  lost  no  time  in  vigorously  pointing  out  that 
the  demands  struck  at  the  very  root  of  the  Christian 
missions  in  China.  The  American  minister,  Mr 
Low,  who  was,  of  course,  more  or  less  under  the 
influence  of  his  ex-missionary  secretary,  Mr  S.  W. 
Williams,  officially  pointed  out  to  Prince  Kung 
that  "the  elevation  of  women  was  the  glory  of 
western  countries,"  and  desired  that  both  he  and 
his  Yamen  colleagues  "would  look  into  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  where  may  be  found  those  principles 
and  doctrines  under  whose  influence  foreign 
countries  have  become  great  and  pow^erful,"  The 
Rev.  John  (afterwards  Bishop)  Burdon  had  already 
resigned  his  chaplaincy  at  the  British  Legation  in 
disappointment  at  the  general  w^ant  of  religious 
tone  in  that  diplomatic  and  consular  sanctum  ;  in 
February  1872  he  gave  Sir  Thomas  (then  Mr) 
Wade  an  eloquent  piece  of  his  mind  in  the  Recorder 
and  Missionary  Journal.  What  with  the  diminu- 
tion of  French  influence,  however,  and  the  firm 
determination  of  Sir  Thomas  W^ade  not  to  "  fiofht 
for"  Protestant  missionaries  more  than  he  could 
help,  a  period  of  comparative  religious  calm 
followed,  until  that  minister's  retirement  in  1882. 
By  1877  the  number  of  Protestant  missionaries 


224  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

at  113  principal  stations  in  China  had  reached  305, 
of  which  109  were  British,  90  American,  and 
1 7  German  ;  but  more  than  half  the  total  (which 
includes  41  Inland  Mission)  were  now  in  the 
interior  of  China ;  that  is  to  say,  not  at  the  treaty 
ports.  Including  sub-stations,  colporteurs,  and 
independent  preachers,  there  were  473  missionaries 
in  all,  of  whom  172  were  wives,  66  bachelors, 
and  63  spinsters.  It  had  been  a  much  resented 
but  very  favourite  reproach  in  the  mouths  of 
persons  not  favourable  to  missionary  zeal  that 
Protestant  missionaries  lived  comfortable  and  easy- 
Sfoinof  lives  with  their  wives  and  families  (for 
increase  in  which  they  often  received,  child  by 
child,  an  extra  pecuniary  allowance)  far  away 
from  risk  of  danger ;  but  the  Taylor  Missions' 
example  was  now  beginning  to  be  imitated  by 
other  societies.  In  that  same  year,  1877,  the 
disastrous  Shan  Si  famine  gave  the  more  energetic 
of  them  an  excellent  opportunity  to  prove  their 
mettle ;  Mr  Muirhead  was  particularly  active  in 
raising  subscriptions  and  superintending  the  dis- 
tribution of  relief;  there  can  be  little  doubt  that, 
cold  and  suspicious  though  the  mandarin  element 
continued  to  be  in  fact  of  much  self-sacrifice  on 
the  part  of  Protestant  missionaries,  "  Pharaoh's 
heart"  underwent  a  considerable  softening  from 
this  time.  The  French  hostilities  of  1883,  and 
the  use  made  of  their  native  Christians  in  Tonquin 
and  elsewhere  by  the  government  of  the  Republic, 
had  some  effect  in  concentrating  upon  the  Roman 


X.]  AWAKENING   OF    CHINA  225 

Catholics  in  China  most  of  the  odium  which 
had  formerly  been  shared  in  equal  measure  by 
Protestants.  The  spread,  too,  of  missionary  dis- 
pensaries and  hospitals,  almost  invariably  in  the 
hands  of  Protestants,  was  a  movement  decidedly 
in  their  favour :  the  Protestant  missionaries  were 
also  more  active  in  translating  into  Chinese  legal, 
scientific,  and  economic  works  of  all  kinds,  and  in 
founding  educational  establishments ;  the  work  of 
Rev.  Timothy  Richard  is  particularly  noticeable  in 
this  intention.  In  fact,  though  the  missionaries 
themselves  cannot  be  expected  to  admit  it,  the 
influence  of  charity  and  progress  would  be  as 
great,  if  not  greater,  were  religion  entirely  excluded, 
so  far  as  it  is  competitive  and  ''militant."  After 
the  supposed  "Awakening  of  China"  heralded  by 
the  Marquess  Tseng  from  his  post  in  London ; 
the  creation  of  a  navy  under  the  supreme  direction 
of  the  Emperor's  father ;  and  the  more  or  less 
successful  anti-Japanese  policy  of  Li  Hung-chang 
in  Corea,  the  Chinese  began  to  grow  more 
confident  and  ao^orressive :  the  riots  at  Wuhu  in 
1888,  at  Chinkiang  and  Nan-k'ang  in  1889,  at 
Yang-chou  Fu,  Wuhu,  Nanking,  Ich'ang,  etc.,  in 
1 89 1,  seemed  to  point  to  a  second  concerted  attempt 
on  the  part  of  the  mandarins  to  drive  all  missionaries 
out  of  China.  The  unfavourable  impression  left 
upon  the  European  Powers  by  the  mandarin 
supineness  or  connivance  on  the  occasion  of  these 
and  many  other  disturbances  had  undoubtedly  a 
great  deal   to  do  with   the  indifference  with  which 


226  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

China's  political  troubles  were  viewed  when  in 
1894  the  Japanese  had  her  at  their  feet.  Instead 
of  celebrating  her  60th  birthday  with  triumphant 
rejoicings,  the  Empress- Dowager  had  to  part  with 
Formosa  and  millions  by  way  of  war  indemnity. 

In  1898  there  were  about  2500  Protestant 
missionaries  (representing  54  societies)  distributed 
over  each  of  the  18  provinces;  of  these  societies 
only  about  a  dozen  were  represented  in  China  at 
the  date  of  the  Peking  Treaty  of  1858.  This 
total  included  527  ordained,  519  lay,  675  wives, 
724  spinsters — in  fact  the  British  and  American 
women  outnumber  the  men.  There  are  in  all 
nearly  1000  Americans,  over  600  British,  and  145 
German-Scandinavian  ;  but  exclusive  of  the  China 
Inland  Mission  (nearly  700  of  both  sexes),  which 
only  numbers  thirty  ordained  members  in  all  :  not 
possessing  any  particular  nationality  or  society 
organisation,  it  is  usually  viewed  as  "separate." 
Last  year  (1904)  there  were  almost  exactly  100 
Protestant  societies  of  various  sorts  represented  in 
China  alone,  not  counting  Formosa,  Corea,  or 
Japan  ;  but  including  asylums,  hospitals,  and 
charitable  institutions ;  there  are  (not  counting 
Hongkong)  certainly  more  missionaries  than  there 
are  traders  and  officials  ;  and,  this  being  so,  it  is 
not  surprising  to  find  that  missionary  influence 
compels  the  local  press  to  be  more  sympathetic 
than  it  probably  would  otherwise  be,  were  half  its 
clients  not  missionaries. 

Missionary  society  influence,  both  at  home  and 


X.]  A    MILITANT   BISHOP  227 

in  China,  seems  to  have  been  from  the  beginning 
much  more  powerful  over  the  American  official 
body  than  over  the  British  ;  but  at  the  same  time 
it  is  only  within  the  last  ten  years  that  American 
consular  influence  has  had  much  independent  say 
in  China,  the  interests  of  American  missionaries 
in  outlying  places  having  been  readily  looked  after 
officieusement  by  British  consuls  ;  the  fixed  policy 
of  the  United  States  had  always  previously  been 
to  raise  as  few  hornets'  nests  as  possible  in  the 
Far  East.  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  in  England,  Bishop  Cassels 
of  Western  China  made  the  following  remarks, 
as  quoted  in  the  Times  of  the  3rd  of  May 
1905:— 

"  A  few  years  ago  China  was  said  to  be  dying, 
and  the  European  Powers,  like  harpies,  were  already 
beginning  to  divide  the  spoil.  Those  pangs,  how- 
ever, had  been  not  a  sign  of  approaching  death, 
but  the  birth-pangs  of  a  new  life.  With  a  Literary 
Chancellor  exhorting  students  to  read  Christian 
books  and  distinguish  between  Protestants  and 
Roman  Catholics ;  with  the  spread  of  a  purely 
native  movement  against  foot-binding ;  ^  with  the 
rise  of  colleges  and  universities,  mints  and  arsenals, 
post-offices  and  publishing  establishments  ;  and  with 
a  new  attitude  to  Western  ideas  in  general,  there 
was  abundant  proof  of  an  awakening  which  gave 
glorious  opportunities  for  Christianity.  Never  before 
had  men  so  crowded  to  hear  the  Gospel.  In  his 
own   diocese,    at    places    where    a   few   years    ago 

^  Mrs  Archibald  Little,  though  a  lay  lady,  deserves  a  special  niche 
in  the  Valhalla  as  a  "foot  missionary,"  of  charming  and  persuasive 
eloquence. 


228  PROTESTANTISM  [chap. 

missionaries  were  howled  at  and  robbed,  and  had 
their  houses  pulled   down,  the  gentry  and   officials 
not    only    urged     them     to     come,     but     lavished 
hospitality  upon  them,  and  provided  mission-houses 
and  preaching  places.     Unless  China  was  leavened 
with   Christianity,   disastrous    results   would    follow. 
Surely    the    Christian    leaven    should    at    least   be 
planted  in  each  county;  yet.  in   looo  counties  [he 
means  hien\  there  was  not  a  single  mission  station. 
In  Western  China  the  mission  had  no  hospital,  no 
training  college,  no   school   buildings,  and   scarcely 
a  church  worthy  the  name.     Worse   than  that,  the 
Tibetan  station  had   been   closed   for  six  years  for 
lack  of  any  man  to  take  possession.     The  Chinese 
had   been   described   as   second   to  no  other  nation 
intellectually,  physically,   or  commercially  ;    and   he 
believed    the   same   would    be   found   true   of   them 
spiritually.      It   was   said   that    there  were   dangers, 
such    as     '  mixed    motives '    and    '  impure    ideas    of 
the    Christian    Church '  ;    and    so    there    were ;    but 
the    greatest   danger    was    that    we    should    fail    to 
seize    the   opportunity    that    China    now    presented 
to  us." 

These  are  indeed  words  of  encouragement ;  but, 
at  the  same  time,  it  is  regrettable  to  see  what 
emphasis  continues  to  be  laid  in  ghosdy  circles 
upon  the  distinction  between  Protestants  and  Roman 
Catholics.  Both  sides  are  in  China  equally  to 
blame  in  this  respect ;  and  the  fact  that  two  religions, 
derived  from  one  and  the  same  source,  continue  to 
wage  an  inveterate  if  smothered  warfare  one  against 
the  other  abroad  is  a  poor  example  of  Christian 
charity  to  offer  to  a  sceptical  people,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  have  had  freely  offered  to  them  for 
inspection    every    Turanian,    Aryan,    and     Semitic 


X.]  DE   TRISTES   CHRETIENS!  229 

religion  in  turn.  When  to  this  religious  quarrel- 
someness is  added  the  political  greed  of  the 
Christian  powers,  small  wonder  if  Japan,  without 
any  Christianity  at  all,  succeeds  in  morally  gaining 
the  upper  hand. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE   ORTHODOX    CHURCH 

The  "  Ross  "  are  converted  from  nature  worship,  and  in  988  embrace 
the  Greek  faith. — Called  "Gross"  by  the  Tartars  and  Chinese.^ 
The  Mongols  attack  the  Kipchaks  and  Russians  in  1222. — Russia 
a  Chinese  province. — Batu  on  religious  grounds  executes  Michael 
Chernigoff  before  Carpini's  eyes. — Freedom  to  Russian  religion 
under  Tartar  rule. — Greek  Christians  distinguished  by  the 
Chinese  from  Nestorians. — Clergy  writs  from  China  run  into 
Kipchak  dominions. — Extinction  of  Russia's  suzerain  Tartar 
power  in  1502. — A  Chinese  blank  between  1368  and  1640. — 
Settlement  of  captive  Russians  in  Peking  in  1685. — In  1715  the 
Manchu  envoy  to  Russia  brings  a  reinforcement  of  priests  to 
China. — Russian  and  Jesuit  counter  moves  at  Peking. — Russian 
captives  in  a  purely  historical  position. — Establishment  in  1720 
of  an  official  Russian  Church  or  Convent  at  Peking. — Russian 
rites  confused  with  Tibetan. — Russian  and  Chinese  schools 
established,  and  continued  up  to  Treaty  times  in  1862. — Death 
of  Hilarion  in  1717  ;  arrival  of  the  Archimandrite  Antonius  in 
1729. — Successors  during  the  eighteenth  century. — New  cemetery 
of  1740  ;  placed  at  British  disposal  in  i860. — List  of  learned 
Archimandrites  during  the  nineteenth  century. — No  Russian 
"missionary  disturbances"  at  Peking. — Reasons  for  the  long 
period  of  peace  and  order. — Immaculate  behaviour  of  Russian 
priests. — Strict  subordination  of  Church  to  State. — Dread  of 
Chinese  power  and  immigration. — The  ecclesiastical  mission 
subsequent  to  1858. — The  effects  of  the  "Boxer"  troubles  of 
1900 ;  destruction  of  the  Library. — Retaliation  of  the  Russians 
with  the  Mukden  Library. — Success  of  the  Orthodox  Church  in 
Japan. — General  considerations  about  Japan's  rights  in  religious 
matters. 

The  "Ross"    are    stated    to   have    menaced    Con- 
stantinople   about    1000   years    ago ;    their    religion 


•i^ 


u 


u 


u 


CHAP.  XI.]         CONQUEST   OF   RUSSIA  231 

up  to  that  date  was  Nature  Worship  ;  they  sub- 
sequently made  a  treaty  with  the  Byzantine 
Emperor,  and  a  certain  number  of  them  were 
converted  ;  churches  were  erected  at  Kiev.  It  was 
a  question  with  them  then,  as  with  the  Mongols 
who  subsequently  conquered  them,  what  cultured 
religion  to  adopt ;  finally  in  988  Vladimir  the 
Holy  decided  that  his  people  should  belong  to 
the  Greek  Church,  itself  then  only  130  years  old. 
The  Mongols  have  always  called  the  people 
"Oross",  which  name  has  from  first  to  last  been 
also  used  in  China ;  often  shortened,  in  accordance 
with  Chinese  custom,  to  "  O  "  ;  just  as  the  other 
countries  become  "  lug,"  "  Fa,"  "  I,"  etc.,  instead 
of  England,  France,  and  Italy.  The  hordes  of 
Genghis  Khan  first  invaded  the  Kipchaks  in  1222, 
and  then  pursued  the  Russians  and  Kipchaks 
together  to  the  River  Dnieper.  Nothing  much 
further  was  done  then,  for  the  conquest  of  North 
China  necessitated  the  recall  of  the  Mongol  troops. 
In  1237  they  reappeared,  and  captured  the  duchy 
of  Vladimir;  the  duchy  of  Kiev  followed  in  1240. 
Genghis'  grandson  Batu,  founder  of  the  Golden 
Horde  or  Desht  Kipchak  dynasty,  fixed  his  capital 
at  Sarai  on  the  Lower- Volga  in  1242,  and  for 
200  years  after  that  Russia  was  indirectly  as  much 
a  Chinese  province  under  the  Grand  Khans  as 
was  Persia,  or  Tibet.  We  have  seen  that  John 
de  Piano  Carpini  found  Greek  priests  with  Kayuk 
Khan  at  Sira-Ordo  near  Karakoram  in  1 247  ; 
Carpini    had    himself    witnessed    the    year    before 


232  THE   ORTHODOX   CHURCH  [chap. 

the  execution,  by  Batu,  of  Michael  Chernigoff  for 
refusing   to    worship   the    Mongol    gods.     In    1249 
"Saint"    Alexander    Nevsky,    Duke    of    Vladimir, 
who    had    ten    years    previously   married   a    Tartar 
princess,    returned    to    Russia    from    his    visit   to 
Kayuk.     The   Tartars    as  over-lords  respected  the 
Russian    religion,    and,    in     fact,    did    not    interfere 
with    the   administration   of  the   country  at   all,  so 
long  as   due    contingents  of  troops  were    supplied, 
and  taxes  were  promptly  paid  to  the  "  Bussurman  " 
farmers  ;  this  Russianised  word  is  undoubtedly  the 
Musu-man    of    Mongol    history,    for    in    1297    the 
farming  of  taxes,  even  in   China,  was,  as    already 
stated,  entrusted  to  the   Mohammedans.     In    1254 
Rubruquis    found  a    Russian    deacon    amongst  the 
other  Christians  at   Karakoram.     The   reason  why 
the     earlier     Persian     word    tersa     was     gradually 
abandoned     by    the     Mongols    in    favour    of    the 
Syro  -  Greek     word     arkon,     when     speaking     of 
Christians,     manifestly      is     that      no      specifically 
Greek   Church   was  ever  heard    of  in    China  until 
the   Russians  had   been   conquered ;    besides,   there 
were  large  bodies  of  Russian  and  Alan  guards  at 
Pekinor  throughout   the  last  half  of  the  thirteenth 
and  first  half  of  the   fourteenth  century,   and   the 
Catholics   there  would    not  be  likely   to   encourage 
the  use  of  a  Persian  word  which  was  most  probably 
applicable  in  the    first   instance   to    the    Nestorians 
they    found     so    degenerated.       A     patent   of    the 
Mongol    ruler,    Batu's   grand-nephew  Usbeg  Khan 
(1312-1342),    exempted    the  clergy  from  taxation; 


XI.]  RUSSIA'S   VICISSITUDES  233 

in  13 14  the  Grand  Khan  AyulipaHpatra  had 
ordered  the  same  thing  to  be  done  in  China ; 
and  the  writ  of  China  had  still  at  least  a  nominal 
run  in  Russia;  for  in  1329,  1332,  and  1334  the 
Chinese  (Mongol)  histories  tell  us  of  Russian 
regiments,  Russian  prisoners  sent  as  presents, 
a  Russian  camp  of  10,000  men,  and  Russian 
guards  at  Peking.  In  1395  Tamerlane  defeated 
Russia's  immediate  suzerain  Toktamish  Khan  ; 
and  then  the  rise  of  the  rival  Tartar  Khanships 
of  Kazan  and  the  Crimea,  with  which  Russia 
was  friendly,  gradually  led  to  the  total  extinction 
of  the  Golden   Horde  in    1502. 

The  above  evidence  is  fairly  precise,  if  incom- 
plete. It  is  clear  that  there  were  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  and  even  before,  many  thousands  of 
Russians,  many  Greek  priests,  and  at  least  one 
Russian  deacon  in  Mongolia  and  China ;  the  in- 
ference that  religious  ministrations  for  the  Russians 
were  organised  there  is  all  the  more  legitimate  in 
that  the  Sarai  suzerains  themselves  dealt  consider- 
ately with  Christians  in  Russia,  apart  from  orders 
received  from  China.  From  the  disappearance  of 
the  Mongols  from  China  in  1368  to  the  advent  on 
the  frontier  of  the  Manchus  in  1640,  not  a  single 
word  is  said  about  Russia  in  any  known  Chinese 
document.  In  16 19  two  Cossacks  are  reported 
by  old  Western  writers  to  have  been  sent  from 
Tobolsk  to  Peking ;  but  nothing  further  seems 
to  be  stated  or  known  about  the  matter.  After 
the    capture    of   Yaksa    or   Albazin    on    the    Amur 


234  THE   ORTHODOX   CHURCH  [chap. 

River  by  the  Manchus  in  1685,  a  small  minority 
of  twenty-five  Russians,  all  of  whom  were 
generously  allowed  to  go  free  if  they  preferred 
it,  accepted  the  Emperor's  offer  to  settle  in  Peking, 
and  the  priest  Vassily  Leontyeff,  carrying  his  ikons 
and  images,  went  with  them.  He  died  there 
about  the  year  1700,  and  it  was  not  until  171 5 
that  Tulishen,  the  Manchu  special  ambassador 
to  St  Petersburg,  laid  before  the  Russian 
authorities  in  Siberia  the  Emperor's  request 
that  some  more  priests  might  be  sent.  At  that 
time  the  Governor-general  at  Tobolsk  had  the 
say  in  all  matters  appertaining  to  the  captives 
in  China.  Tulishen  took  back  with  him  the 
Archimandrite  Hilarion  and  nine  other  priests, 
students,  and  attendants,  six  being  the  limit  to 
the  number  of  priestly  and  literary  persons  set 
by  the  Chinese  Emperor.  Peter  the  Great 
originally  wished  to  send  an  archbishop  to 
Peking,  but  the  Jesuits  there,  who  were  at  that 
time  getting  into  hot  water  (against  their  own 
judgment)  in  connection  with  the  ancestral  rites 
dispute,  had  already  appealed  to  Peter,  and  also 
to  Charles  VI.,  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  for  their 
good  offices,  so  that  Peter  was  induced  to  give 
way  on  that  point,  in  order  to  obtain  the  good 
offices  of  the  Jesuits  at  Peking.  As  it  was,  the 
Jesuits  narrowly  escaped  being  supplanted  by 
Russians  in  their  posts  on  the  Astronomical  Board  ; 
but  they  were  in  the  end  too  sharp  for  the 
Russians,   whose  intrigues  and   soft  promises  they 


XL]  RUSSIANS    AT    PEKING  235 

met  successfully  with  still  subtler  moves.  The 
Russian  prisoners  were  at  once  assimilated  to 
Bannermen,  and  given  honourable  duty  as  palace 
guards  under  a  fiiuru  of  their  own.  The  whole 
Manchu  nation  (it  must  be  explained)  is  registered 
on  a  military  basis  under  Eight  Banners,  to  which 
are  assimilated  the  Mongols  and  the  "faithful" 
Chinese  who  assisted  the  Manchu  conquests ; 
these  two  are  under  Banners  of  their  own  ; 
every  Bannerman,  no  matter  how  high  in  rank, 
has  a  niurti  or  colonel,  under  whose  paternal 
jurisdiction  he  falls. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  all  these  arrange- 
ments were  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  precedents 
of  the  T'ang  and  Yiian  (Mongol)  dynasties,  when 
Turks  and  Russians  had  been  given  rank  as  Captains 
of  the  Guard,  and  had  been  slmiliarly  cherished 
either  as  hostages  or  captives,  under  the  immediate 
eye  of  the  Chinese  Court.  In  1720  the  Russian 
envoy  to  Peking,  Ismailoff,  was  instructed  to 
request  amongst  other  things,  permission  to  build 
a  Russian  church  inside  the  city  of  Peking  ;  this 
demand,  being  stricdy  in  accordance  with  the 
Manichean,  Nestorian,  and  perhaps  Mussulman 
precedents  of  the  seventh  century,  was  readily 
granted.  The  makeshift  Albazin  church  of 
St  Nicholas  was  repaired,  and  a  new  one  was 
promised  for  the  use  of  the  Embassy.  The 
principal  station  of  the  Russian  missionaries  and 
of  the  envoys  when  they  came  was  at  the  Na7i- 
Kwari,  or  "  Southern  Hostelry,"  occupying  part  of 


236  THE   ORTHODOX   CHURCH  [chap. 

a  site  still  assigned  for  the  lodgment  of  tributary 
missions  ^  from  Annam,  Corea,  Loochoo,  Tibet, 
and  other  foreign  states.  It  is  in  fact  the  present 
Russian  Leration,  which  was  reconstructed  for 
the  first  time  at  the  cost  of  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment in  1820,  and  still  contains  the  old  Church  of 
the  Purification.  When  Hilarion  reached  Peking 
in  1 7 16,  the  Nan-Kwan -wdiS  turned  into  a  cloister 
for  his  use.  This  was  first  styled  the  "  Convent  of 
Candlemas,"  and  later  the  "  Church  "  ;  it  was  built 
at  China's  expense  in  1727- 1734  on  the  model 
of  the  French  church  erected  by  Louis  XIV.  and 
K'ang-hi  for  the  use  of  the  Jesuits.  The  Russian 
popes  were  styled  lama,  which  seems  to  show 
that  their  vestments  and  rites  (which  are  really  not 
unlike  those  of  the  Buddhists  as  seen  at  Lama 
Miao,  or  Dolonor)  were  confused  with  those  of  the 
Tantra  services.  Catherine,  Peter's  widow,  sent 
Count  Sawa  Vladislavitch  in  1727  to  negotiate 
another  treaty  with  China  ;  the  fifth  article  pro- 
vided more  distinctly  than  before  that  a  church 
should  be  erected  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Gross 
Hostel  under  the  superintendence  of  the  mandarin 
charged  with  the  management  of  their  affairs  ; 
one  /ama,  and  three  assistant  lamas  were  authorised 
to  dwell  there  permanently  at  the  cost  of  China. 
The  Russians  were  granted  freedom  to  practice 
their  worship   and    to    perform    their   prayers  with 

*  All  these,  however,  except  Tibet,  have  been  annexed  by  France, 
Japan,  or  other  foreign  power  ;  but  when  the  writer  was  at  Peking 
he  met  Mongolian,  Corean,  and  Tibetan  envoys  there  (1869- 1870). 


XI.]  RUSSIAN   STUDENTS  237 

all  the  customary  ceremonies.  Four  Russian 
youths  and  two  adults  (besides  the  four  priests) 
were  allowed  to  study  Chinese  there  at  the 
Emperor's  charge ;  these  latter  stipulations  are 
supposed  to  have  had  in  view  the  ultimate 
supersession  of  the  still  indispensable  Jesuits  ; 
but  the  Jesuits  were  much  too  clever.  Another 
school  was  established  in  which  Chinese  students, 
cadets  of  the  Imperial  Council,  might  study 
Russian.  Unless  this  school  was  destroyed  during 
the  "  Boxer,"  troubles  of  1900,  a  point  upon  which 
information  is  not  forthcoming,  the  buildings  are 
still  there,  marked  with  the  Chinese  words  "  Inner 
Council  Russian  College  "  ;  but  for  many  years  past, 
certainly  since  1830,  salaries  have  been  drawn  by 
the  officials  without  any  real  duties  having  been  done, 
it  having  been  found  in  1820  that  the  Chinese 
students,  of  whom  there  were  then  twenty,  were 
totally  incompetent  to  translate  a  single  word  of 
Russian.  The  supposed  teachers  of  Russian  in  this 
Chinese  school  were  first  the  "  Albazins,"  or  Russian 
captives,  with  their  descendants,  and  afterwards  the 
heads  of  the  Russian  Ecclesiastical  Missions  ;  and 
there  was  a  Loochoo  school  hard  by,  organised 
upon  the  same  basis.  After  the  second  war  with 
Great  Britain  and  the  Treaty  of  Peking,  the 
present  T'ung-wen  Kwan,  or  "  College  for  Mixed 
Languages,"  was  established  in  the  metropolis, 
and  teaching  of  Russian  was  transferred  to  this 
(1862.) 

But  to  return  to  Hilarion  ;  he  died  (17 17)  a  year 


238  THE   ORTHODOX   CHURCH  [chap. 

after  his  arrival  in  Peking,  and  was  buried  in  the 
old  Russian  cemetery  (close  by  the  spot  where  the 
British  troops  breached  the  wall  in  October  i860) ; 
this  cemetery  had  been  placed  by  the  Emperor 
K'ang-hi  at  the  disposal  of  the  Albazins  in  1685. 
The  original  understanding  was  that  the  priests 
should  be  relieved  every  ten  years,  but  owing  to 
distance  and  various  delays  the  reliefs  were 
irregular ;  the  first,  with  ten  members  as  arranged 
under  the  Sawa  treaty,  was  under  the  Archimandrite 
Antonius  in  1729  ;  the  succeeding  missions  under  a 
second  Hilarion  1736,  Gervasius,  1745,  Ambrosius, 
1794,  Nicholas,  1771,  Joachim,  1 781,  and  Sophronius 
in  1794.  As  the  vigorous  Emperor  K'ien-lung  was 
reigning  all  this  time,  it  may  well  be  imagined, 
when  even  the  Jesuits  had  to  hide  their  diminished 
heads,  that  the  above  simple-minded  Archimandrites 
had  no  great  opportunity  of  making  history,  even 
if  they  had  been  at  all  disposed  to  intermeddle  with 
politics.  The  only  known  event  of  importance  was 
the  legacy  by  a  former  Russian  student  in  the  year 
1 740,  of  a  small  estate  he  had  purchased  a  mile  to 
the  west  of  the  old  cemetery ;  this  was  to  serve  as 
a  church-yard  and  new  cemetery,  and  one  of  the 
first  interments  in  it  was  that  of  the  Archimandrite 
Ambrosius.  The  British  subjects  murdered  by  the 
Chinese  in  1859- 1860  were  kindly  granted  burial 
hospitality  here. 

The  Archimandrite  Sophronius  is  the  only  one 
of  those  in  the  preceding  list  who  has  left  any 
literary  work  behind  him — for  instance,  a  diary  of 


XL]  ARCHIMANDRITE    PALLADIUS  239 

his  life,  and  some  sketches  of  Peking ;  but  one  of 
the  students  named  Leontyeff  (presumably  a  relative 
of  the  first  Albazin  priest)  wrote  a  history  of  the 
Manchus  and  a  translation  of  "Confucius."  After 
this  there  was  quite  a  succession  of  distinguished 
Archimandrites.  Father  Hyacinth  (i 809-1 821)  is 
still  one  of  the  first  authorities  on  the  Social  Life  of 
the  Chinese,  the  Tribes  of  Central  Asia,  History  of 
Tibet  and  Mongolia,  etc.,  etc.  ;  unfortunately,  though 
one  or  two  of  his  best  books  have  been  translated 
into  French  or  German,  none  are  available  in 
English.  Father  Hyacinth  took  back  with  him  to 
Russia  several  tons  of  Chinese  books.  His 
successor,  the  Archimandrite  Peter,  was  a  distin- 
guished Manchu  scholar.  The  relief  mission  of 
1830  was  only  under  the  conduct  of  a  monk 
who  did  not  stay  in  Peking  very  long.  The  most 
illustrious  of  all  the  ecclesiastical  missions  was  that 
of  1840,  under  the  Archimandrite  Polycarpus,  who 
had  with  him  as  a  priest  the  future  Archimandrite 
Palladius  and  several  other  lay  Russians,  well 
known  by  their  literary  labours  to  specialists. 
Palladius  himself  became  Archimandrite  to  the 
mission  of  1850,  and  after  service  in  Rome  (1860- 
1864)  during  the  chieftainship  in  China  of  the 
Archimandrite  Gury,  resumed  his  old  post  at 
Peking  under  the  changed  conditions  of  1866. 
Palladius'  chief  works  are  the  "  Life  of  Buddha," 
"  History  of  Buddhism,"  "  History  of  Genghis 
Khan,"  "  Journey  of  the  Taoist  Monk  (already 
mentioned)  to  Genghis  Khan/'  "  Mohammedanism  in 


240  THE   ORTHODOX   CHURCH  [chap 

China,"  "Christianity  in  China,"  "Marco  Polo  in 
China,"  etc.,  etc. — unfortunately,  nearly  all  these  are 
inaccessible  to  persons  unversed  in  Russian.  Several 
other  priests,  such  as  Daniel  and  Zwetkoff,  have 
written  valuable  religious  works  on  Taoism, 
Nestorianism,   and   Buddhist   Vows. 

From  first  to  last  there  has  never  been  a  Russian 
"missionary  disturbance"  during  the  175  years  of 
pre- Legation  residence  in  Peking;  such  Russian 
"  rows "  as  have  taken  place  have  all  been  owing 
to  the  drunken  and  riotous  behaviour  of  the 
trading  caravans,  and  even  those  were  not  suffered 
to  take  place  after  K'ien-lung  came  to  the  throne 
(1736).  There  has  never  been  the  least  organised 
hostility  to  either  the  Albazins  or  the  Russian 
missionaries  ;  and  it  is  worth  while  enquiring  why 
this  condition  of  affairs,  so  contrary  to  the 
experience  of  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
has  continued  to  exist.  In  the  first  place  they 
were  captives,  or  ministers  to  captives'  spiritual 
wants  fully  authorised  by  treaty  ;  consequently 
they  were  guests  of  the  Emperor,  living  on  the 
Emperor's  bounty  in  full  accord  with  historical 
precedent  ;  so  far  from  being  a  menace,  they  were 
an  honour  to  China,  and  a  military  trophy  of 
which  she  was  entided  to  be  proud.  Their 
intellectual  acquirements,  though  sufficiendy  dis- 
tinguished after  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  were  not  of  a  kind  to  excite  extraordinary 
jealousy  ;  and  (however  the  conduct  of  twentieth 
century    Russian    diplomats    may    now    belie    the 


XI.]  RUSSIAN   PRUDENCE  241 

fact)  in  those  days  the  official  Russians  displayed 
no  startling  genius  for  intrigue  in  China,  even  if 
the  inclination  had  occasionally  been  there  :  in  any 
case,  down  to  the  very  last  post-"  Boxer"  days, 
no  word  of  reproach  for  intrigue  has  ever 
been  breathed  against  a  Russian  priest,  notwith- 
standing the  slippery  repute  of  the  latter-day  lay 
diplomats. 

The  Russian  Church  in  no  part  of  the  world 
seems  to  have  assumed  the  militant  and  aggressive 
attitude  of  Mohammedanism,  and.  in  a  different 
degree,  of  Christianity  ;  in  fact  the  strict  sub- 
ordination of  Church  to  State  ever  since  the 
days  of  Peter  has  rendered  it  impossible,  or  at 
least  inconsistent  with  Russian  policy,  to  entrust 
priests  with  any  independent  powers  at  all  which 
might  conceivably  compromise  the  State.  Even 
after  the  Peking  Treaty  of  i860,  when  Russia 
was  placed  on  a  political  level  with  England  and 
France,  she  never  in  the  least  attempted  to 
proselytise,  or,  by  means  of  religious  doctrine,  to 
bring  the  Chinese  under  her  political  wing.  No 
converts  were  accepted  but  those  who  proved 
they  understood  the  religion,  and  even  then  only 
a  dozen  or  two  each  year.  There  were  never 
more  than  a  thousand  in  all,  including  the  two 
dozen  Albazin  families,  numbering  about  120 
souls.  This  moderation  may  not  be  all  pure 
virtuous  restraint ;  on  the  contrary,  it  may  be 
said  that,  up  to  1886  the  Russians,  despite  their 
opportunities   in    Hi,  had  a   very  wholesome  dread 

Q 


242  THE   ORTHODOX   CHURCH  [chap. 

of  Chinese  military  power  and  immigration  ;  they 
had  therefore  no  sound  political  reason  for  attaching 
so  presumably  formidable  a  power  to  themselves 
by  religious  bonds.  Still,  the  Russians  are  entitled 
to  claim  credit  for  great  prudence. 

Up  to  the  Treaty  of  1858  the  entire  cost  of 
the  Russian  permanent  mission,  so  far  as  necessaries 
went,  was  defrayed  by  the  Chinese  Government ; 
but  after  that  date  the  Holy  Synod  took  charge 
of  the  ecclesiastical,  and  the  Russian  Foreign 
Office  of  the  political  side.  The  politicals  occupy 
the  Nan-Kwan,  in  "  Legation  Street,"  close  by 
the  water-gate  where  the  British  rescuing  troops 
were  the  first  to  enter  in  1900.  This  block  or 
enclosure  was  entirely  rebuilt  by  the  Russians 
themselves  in  1864,  nothing  of  the  old  buildings 
remaining  except  the  original  Embassy  House 
in  the  inner  court,  and  the  old  Church  of  the 
Purification.  A  mandarin  who  in  the  old  days 
was  set  on  duty  to  watch  the  Russians,  and  who 
had  had  a  small  Buddhist  shrine  attached  to  his 
quarters  in  the  yard,  was  of  course  ejected,  together 
with  his  "false  gods,"  after  the  Treaty  of  i860. 
The  foreign  Legation  quarter  has  since  the  "Boxer" 
troubles  become  an  imperium  in  imperio ;  but 
originally  the  idea  was  to  treat  Russians — and 
subsequently  all  foreigners  —  as  tributary  states 
under  the  protecting  wing  of  the  Palace  walls 
hard  by ;  for  the  Corean,  Loochooan,  and  Mongol 
hotels  are  all  close  to  the  Nan-Kwan.  The 
Russian   ecclesiastical    mission    occupies   the   Peh- 


XI.]  "BOXER"   RAVAGES  243 

Kwan  ("  North  Hostel  ")  four  miles  away  from  the 
Legation  in  the  extreme  north-east  corner  of  the 
city  wall,  on  the  other  side  of  which  are  the  old 
and  new  Russian  cemeteries.  According  to  a 
detailed  report  received  by  the  Synod  from  the 
Archimandrite  Innocentius,  and  dated  27th  August 
1900,  the  buildings  of  the  Peh-Kwan  were  blown 
up  by  the  "  Boxers  "  with  dynamite  in  the  month 
of  June  in  that  year,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
Albazins  were  then  killed ;  the  valuable  library 
accumulated  during  the  past  200  years  was  entirely 
destroyed  by  fire.  When  the  Russians  a  few 
months  later  took  Mukden,  they  revenged  them- 
selves for  this  loss  by  carrying  off  the  rich  imperial 
library  discovered  there,  including  many  books 
and  manuscripts  which  had  been  carried  away 
by  the  Mongols  from  Russia  and  Hungary  in 
the  thirteenth  century  ;  many  of  these  priceless 
treasures  still  await  investigation  at  the  hands  of 
a  competent  sinologist.  The  Peh-Kwan  was 
originally  a  Buddhist  temple,  and  was  assigned 
to  the  captives  from  Albazin  in  1685  ;  they  brought 
with  them  the  image  of  St  Nicholas.  The  Church 
of  the  Assumption  or  of  St  Nicholas  was  con- 
secrated in  1692  ;  but  the  whole  place  was  repaired 
in  1724,  and  again,  together  with  the  church, 
rebuilt  in  1827.  New  pictures  of  the  saints  were 
sent  from  Russia  to  replace  the  caricatures  of 
Chinese  workmanship,  and  the  name  St  Nicholas 
was  permanently  abandoned  in  favour  of  "The 
Assumption."      After    the     reconstruction     of    the 


244  TJiE   ORTHODOX   CHURCH  [chap. 

Nan-Kwany^d.s  completed  in  1865,  the  missionaries' 
quarters  at  the  Peh-Kwan  were  newly  built  too, 
and  schools  were  added  in   1870. 

At  a  village  near  the  well-known  town  called 
Ma-t'ou,  or  "The  Wharf,"  the  first  day's  stage 
on  the  way  to  Tientsin,  there  is  a  small  Orthodox 
community  of  about  one  hundred  Christians,  dating 
from  the  year  1863;  with  this  exception  there 
are  no  Russian  Christians  amongst  the  Chinese 
except  at  Peking.  Although  the  Russians,  whether 
from  policy  or  inclination,  have  not  thought  fit — 
at  all  events  until  their  unfortunate  Manchurian 
aggressions  —  to  proselytise  in  China,  curiously 
enough  in  Japan  their  missions  have  obtained 
considerable  development.  This  subject  hardly 
appertains  to  the  religions  of  China  ;  still,  as  the 
next  chapter  will  treat  of  Japanese  Shintoism,  it 
may  not  be  amiss  to  say  a  few  words  about  Bishop 
Nicolai's  success,  which  to  a  certain  extent  bears 
upon  the  political  side  of  Shintoism.  At  the 
suofofestion  of  the  Governor  -  General  of  Eastern 
Siberia,  an  Archimandrite  and  three  priests,  on 
the  China  scale,  were  sent  out  to  Tokyo  in  1871  ; 
at  present  there  seem  to  be  only  two  Russian 
priests,  but  there  are  at  least  nine  ordained 
Japanese  (or,  according  to  one  account,  sixteen), 
with  over  a  hundred  native  preachers  or  catechists  ; 
three  schools,  and  1 50  places  of  worship ;  for  a 
total  of  about  15,000  Christians.  At  first  Russia 
herself  supplied  the  funds-  for  this  mission ;  but 
now  it  appears  the  Japanese  Government  is  willing 


XI.]  THE   JAPANESE    CHURCH  245 

to  do  so  itself,  no  doubt  in  order  to  anticipate 
any  political  meddling.  A  magnificent  cathedral 
or  Russian  Church  is  now  in  process  of  being  built, 
if  indeed  it  is  not  already  finished,  on  an  elevated 
site  in  the  heart  of  the  Japanese  capital.  Some 
fifteen  years  ago  the  Marquis  (then  Count)  I  to, 
who  doubtless  has  had  a  hand  in  all  these  matters, 
even  went  so  far  as  to  recommend  that  the 
Japanese  nation  should,  for  political  purposes, 
become  officially  Christian ;  and,  indeed,  there  is 
really  no  reason,  in  the  logic  of  things,  why  the 
Mikado  should  not  at  once  constitute  himself 
"  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  like  King  Edward,  or 
create  a  "  Sviateishyi  Synod,"  as  Peter  did  in  172 1, 
with  himself  at  the  head  of  it,  appointing  in  future 
his  own  Protestant  and  Orthodox  bishops  from 
any  nationality  he  may  choose.  When  the 
Christian  religion  was  proclaimed  in  Judaea  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind  in  general,  no  more  was  there 
known  of  England  and  Russia  than  of  Japan  ; — 
rather  less  ;  and  though  the  Pope  of  Rome  may 
have  historical  claims  to  supreme  headship,  the 
Mikado's  claims  are  certainly  as  good  as  those  of 
any  other  ruler ;  nor,  if  any  of  his  subjects  see  fit 
to  embrace  Islam,  is  there  any  reason  why  he 
should  not,  equally  with  a  Turk  hailing  originally 
from  China,  be  Supreme  Caliph  in  his  own 
dominions.  His  right  to  control  local  Buddhism 
is  certainly  greater  than  that  of  the  Tibetan  lamas 
who  have  only  adopted  the  coarsest  form  of  Tantric 
worship,    and    (including    Mongolia)    do    not    rule 


246  THE   ORTHODOX   CHURCH      [chap.  xi. 

spiritually  over  half  the  population  that  Japan 
contains  ;  moreover,  Tibet  was  a  totally  unknown 
country  when  Buddha  was  born,  and  even 
when  Buddhism  was  introduced  into  China  and 
Japan. 


CHAPTER   XII 

SHINTOISM 

Shin-to  or  "  spiritual  way,"  is  an  expression  derived  from  the  Chinese 
"  Book  of  Changes." — The  Japanese  derived  the  expression  of  their 
notions,  if  not  the  religious  notions  themselves,  from  ready-made 
Chinese  thought. — Even  Chinese  history  allows  to  the  ancient 
Japanese  some  crude  spiritual  ideas  of  political  bearing. — First 
enquiries  by  competent  Europeans  into  the  nature  and  objects  of 
revived  Shinto. — Evidently  a  mere  political  engine. — No  moral 
code  ;  a  mere  engine  of  mental  slavery. — The  ancient  Japanese 
history  on  which  it  is  chiefly  based  is  itself  worthless. — Mr  Satow's 
"  Revival  of  Pure  Shin-tau." — The  word  Skiti-td  only  introduced 
in  the  sixth  century  as  the  name  of  a  supposed  cult. — Gradually 
extinguished  by  Buddhism. — Revival  of  religion  after  three  or 
four  centuries  of  civil  war. — The  Japanese  revivalist,  Motowori. — 
He  denies  his  own  alleged  inspiration  by  Lao-tsz. — Other  Japanese 
attack  both  him  and  the  genuineness  of  Japanese  ancient  history. 
— Japan  is  the  hub  of  the  universe,  and  Shinto  is  its  prophet. — As 
a  political  engine,  important ;  as  a  philosophy,  a  mere  copy. 
— Weak  origin  of  Japanese  history. — "Book  of  Changes"  the  true 
origin. — Parallellines  of  religious  movement  in  China  and  Japan. 
— Etymological  and  historical  evidence. — Japanese  statesmen 
have  only  done  what  Europeans  have  done.  —  Conflicting 
appreciations  of  Russian,  German,  and  other  European  Christians 
cited  to  explain  the  Japanese  attitude. — "  Ian  Maclaren "  on 
revivals. — Japanese   btishi-do. — Lessons  to  be  learnt  from  Japan. 

No  such  religion  is  or  ever  has  been  known  to  the 
Chinese  by  that  name,  unless  it  be  that  within  the 
past  ten  years  the  Japanese  have  been  endeavour- 
ing   to    counteract    European   missionary    influence 

in  China   by  introducing   their   own  Buddhist  and 

247 


248  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

Shinto  priests  for  educational  purposes  into  the 
country  districts ;  to  this  extent  it  may  be  said 
that  the  Chinese  newspapers  have  heard  of  and 
occasionally  mention  it.  Yet  the  word  Shin-t5 
(or  Shin-tau,  as  even  the  Japanese  kana  syllables 
write  it  in  theory),  is  a  purely  Chinese  combination, 
pronounced  in  the  mandarin  dialects  shen-tao,  and 
in  Cantonese  sken-tozi,  meaning  "spiritual  road." 
The  combination  does  not  occur  at  all  in  the 
Taoist  Canon.  There  are  precedents  for  Lao-tan's 
(or  Lao-tsz')  tao,  Confucius'  tao,  Buddha's  tao, 
heretical  tao,  and  foreign  tao;  all  of  which  are 
older  than  any  authenticated  Japanese  history,  and 
mean  "way  taught"  or  "teachings."  In  the 
"  Book  of  Changes  "  we  have  Heaven's  tao,  Earth's 
tao,  Man's  tao,  corresponding  to  the  three  principles 
mentioned  in  the  first  chapter,  and  meaning  the 
"ways  of"  or  the  "law  of,"  or  "what  may  be 
expected  of"  each  of  the  three.  The  "Book  of 
Changes"  says:  "When  we  look  at  the  spiritual 
road  of  Heaven,  we  find  that  the  four  seasons 
never  fail  us  ;  the  holy  man  bases  his  teaching 
on  this  spiritual  way,  and  all  below  the  heavens 
submit  to  him."  These  words  contain,  in  com- 
pendious form,  all  the  essentials  of  the  comparatively 
simple  ancient  Chinese  religion,  as  described  before 
the  second  layer  of  tao,  superimposed  by  Lao-tsz, 
gave  to  it  further  complications.  As  there  is  no 
tittle  of  evidence — even  in  the  ancient  Japanese 
literature  (which  is  of  very  dubious  value) — to 
show  that  the  early  Japanese  had  ever  constructed 


XII.]      JAPANESE  SPIRITUAL  EXCELLENCE   249 

on  their  own  account  any  abstract  thought  of  such 
combined  simplicity  and  profundity,  there  can  be 
little  doubt,  seeing  that  they  can  be  proved  to 
have  obtained  everything  they  have  in  the  way 
of  early  culture  from  China,  that  they  obtained 
the  literary  expression  of  this  noble  idea  from 
China  too,  even  admitting  (as  we  may  well  do)  that 
they  had  the  nucleus  of  the  unexpressed  idea  in  their 
own  minds.  And,  apart  from  the  fact  that  the 
above  3000  years  old  Chinese  definition  of  Shen-tao 
corresponds  with  the  modern  Japanese  definition 
of  Shinto,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  ancient 
Japanese  should  not  have  had  what  we  have 
proved  the  Huns  and  Turks  to  have  had  partly 
in  common  with  the  Chinese ;  to  wit,  a  sort  of 
respectful  nature  and  ancestor  worship,  based 
on  the  not  unreasonable  conjecture  that  every 
man,  as  part  of  Nature,  is  a  link  in  the  endless 
chain  of  life,  and  should  conform  to  Nature's  ways. 
And  to  this  day,  with  all  our  Western  civilisation, 
culture,  and  dogma,  we  have  not  got  very  far 
beyond  this  obvious  stage ;  nor,  so  far  as  our 
concrete  national  acts  are  concerned,  can  we  deny 
that  the  Japanese,  by  the  light  of  their  own  spiritual 
conceptions,  have  displayed  patriotic,  kindly,  and 
moral  qualities  in  a  degree  to  which  we  can  scarcely 
lay  claim  with  honesty  ourselves.  So  that,  what- 
ever in  the  way  of  historical  criticism  may  follow 
in  this  enquiry,  Japanese  honour  is  declared  safe 
from  the  faintest  suspicion  or  tarnish. 

Skin-tao  is  also  difTerently  used  in  the  material 


250  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

sense  of  the  "spirit  passage"  in  a  tomb;  skSn 
loosely  meaning  "good  spirit"  or  soul  {manes),  and 
kwei  "  evil  spirit  "  or  ghost  [larvae) :  the  combination 
kwei-tao  is  used  of  altar  passages  by  which  spirits  can 
approach  or  escape.  But  kwei-tao  may  also  have 
a  spiritual  meaning  corresponding  by  antithesis 
with  the  shen-tao  of  the  "  Book  of  Changes." 
Thus — a  cruel  argumentum  ad  hominem — standard 
Chinese  history  tells  us  that  "  about  the  year  a.d. 
1 80  or  190,  the  Japanese  tribes  were  at  civil  war, 
and  for  quite  a  number  of  generations  had  no 
supreme  dominus ;  but  there  was  an  elderly 
unmarried  woman  named  pi-mi-ku,  much  given 
to  supernatural  things,  who  was  able  to  hoodwink 
the  people  by  the  use  of  kwei-tao  (hocus-pocus,  or 
"  devil  methods  "),  so  that  at  last  the  inhabitants 
joined  in  proclaiming  her  their  princely  ruler. 
The  modern  Japanese  pronunciation  of  the  Chinese 
phonetic  syllables  pi-mi-ku  is  ki-mi-ko,  and  the 
modern  Japanese  dictionary  words  for  "  princess," 
"priestess,"  and  "imperial  princess,"  are  hime, 
miko,  and  hime-miko.  Moreover,  the  widow  of 
the  fourteenth  traditional  Mikado  (201-269),  whose 
name  as  a  princess  was  Okinaga  Tarashi  Hime, 
assumed  the  regency  after  his  death.  If  we  make 
allowance  for  the  fact,  admitted  by  the  Japanese, 
that  their  "  history  "  was  only  retrospectively  recorded 
in  A.D.  712,  and  that  even  at  that  date  it  was 
only  taken  down  from  the  memory  of  one  single 
person,  we  may  well  accept  this  date  as  proximate. 
Having,  moreover,  first-class    Chinese  official  con- 


XII.]       JAPANESE    BORROWED   THOUGHT       251 

firmation  of  a  specific  fact  in  that  female  ruler's 
career,  we  arrive  at  the  position  that  "  spiritual 
ways  "  of  some  sort,  even  if  the  ways  of  debased 
spirits,  began  to  be  distinctly  conceived  in  the 
more  enterprising  rulers'  minds  about  three 
centuries  before  the  use  of  writing  (i.e.  Chinese 
writing)  began  to  be  understood. 

What  is  now  sugforested  is  this :  Shinto  is  a 
purely  Chinese  notion,  not  only  as  a  specific  word 
(having  a  specific  meaning  in  the  Chinese  classics, 
which  meaning  corresponds  both  with  the  most 
ancient  Chinese  and  with  the  most  modern 
Japanese  ideas),  but  also  as  a  general  philosophic 
term,  which  is  so  used  at  all  stages  of  its  discussion 
by  the  Japanese  as  to  prove  that  such  definite 
philosophical  ideas  as  the  Japanese  have  ever  had 
are  all  founded  on  the  "  Book  of  Changes,"  the 
"  Book  of  Rites,"  and  the  pure  Taoist  philosophy. 

The  earliest  mention  of  Shinto  by  European 
enquirers  seems  to  be  in  a  letter  to  the  Chinese 
Recorder,  dated  Christmas  1868,  from  the  Rev.  J. 
Goble.  He  alludes  to  the  revolution  of  that  year, 
to  the  revival  of  the  Mikado's  power  which  had 
lain  dormant  for  so  many  centuries  ;  to  the  rising 
Japanese  enthusiasm  for  everything  purely  native 
in  literature  and  religion ;  and  to  the  suspicion 
that  the  movement  was  being  engineered,  with 
political  objects,  by  the  leading  men  of  Japan.  He 
had  himself  observed,  during  a  solemn  progress 
of  the  Mikado  through  his  provinces,  that  all 
Buddhist    temples   and    images    were    kept    out    of 


252  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

his    sight,  whilst   great    efforts    were   at    the    same 

time   made    to    show    up    the    Shinto    shrines    in 

their   best   light.       In    February    1874    Mr    Satow 

(now   Sir    Ernest    Satow)   described    to  the    Japan 

Asiatic  Society  the  "  Mecca  of  Japan,"  i.e.  the  Shinto 

temples    of   Ise  ;   he    showed   how   the  absence  of 

images  was  a   distinctive  feature  of  such  temples, 

and  how  even    every  Japanese    house    kept    up   a 

kami-dana,  or  "spirit    shelf,"   for   private  use.      In 

the  discussion  which  followed,  Dr  Hepburn  (author 

of  the  leading  Japanese- English  dictionary)  agreed 

that    Shinto    contained    no    moral    code,    and    that 

the  chief  apostle  of  its  revival    said    so   expressly, 

asserting  that   "  morals  had  been   invented  by  the 

Chinese    because    they    were   an    immoral    people ; 

that  it  was  only  immoral  people  who  discussed  the 

wisdom  or  rectitude  of  their  ruler's  acts  ;  and  that 

their  simple  guide  or  duty  was    obedience   to   the 

Mikado."     In    other   words    Shinto    was,    he    said, 

an    engine    of    mental    slavery.     M.    von    Brandt, 

afterwards   German   Minister  in   China,  considered 

there   was   good   evidence    that    Shinto  resembled 

the    ancient    Chinese    religion ;    for    instance,    the 

same  sacrifices  were  in  vogue.     Sir  Harry  Parkes, 

British  Minister  in  Japan,  who  was  then  considered 

to    be    a    sound    Chinese    scholar,    said    he    had 

never      succeeded     in     satisfying      himself     what 

Japanese  Shinto  was,  but  that  his  own  ignorance 

became  intelligible  to  him  if  it  was  turning  out  that 

a  supposed  indigenous  faith  was  now  being  welded 

into  a  political  engine  ;    under  these  circumstances 


XII.]  A   POLITICAL  TOOL  253 

it  might  be  expected  to  become  what  the  rulers 
choose  to  make  it,  the  infallibility  doctrine  being 
particularly  convenient.  Sir  Harry  went  on  to 
discuss  what  he  styled  the  myth  of  Jimmu  (the 
supposed  first  Mikado),  which  was  being  exploited 
politically  even  to  the  extent  of  firing  salutes  on 
his  imaginary  birthday.  He  disagreed  with  the 
view  taken  by  Mr  Laurence  Oliphant  that  Shinto 
had  once  taken  real  root  as  the  religion  of  the 
people.  If  so,  why  should  it  have  yielded  so 
completely  to  Buddhism  ?  Dr  Brown  explained 
that  the  Kojiki  (Chinese  words  kit-shi-ki,  or  Ancient 
Affairs  Record)  was  the  only  ancient  work  that 
treated  of  old  religious  customs  in  extenso  ;  he  had 
consulted  it,  and  doubted  if  it  w^ere  at  all  worth 
the  trouble  he  had  had  in  reading  it  ;  it  was  con- 
fessedly derived  from  the  memory  of  one  female 
retainer  in  a.d.  712,  and  he  could  discern  in  the 
supposed  ancient  religion  no  morals,  no  gods,  no 
ritual,  and  no  ethics.  A  Japanese  gentleman 
named  Mr  Mori  admitted  that  the  records  were 
fallible,  but  justified  the  State  in  turning  Shintoism 
to  what  practical  account  it  could  ;  reverence  for 
the  dead  was  its  leading  feature. 

Later  on  in  the  same  year,  Mr  Satow  read  his 
well-known  paper  on  the  "  Revival  of  Pure  Shin- 
tau."  By  pure  Shin-tau  is  meant  the  native  belief 
previous  to  the  introduction  of  Confucianism  (fifth 
or  early  sixth  century),  and  Buddhism  (sixth  century), 
the  object  of  the  revivalists  being  to  eliminate 
these    two    influences ;    they    repudiate    the    very 


254  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

word  shinto  because  it  had  never  been  used 
before,  and  was  only  adopted  then  in  order  to 
distinguish  the  old  belief  from  the  two  Chinese 
interlopers.  It  took  centuries  for  Buddhism  to 
get  a  hold  on  the  people ;  in  the  ninth 
century  a  mixture  called  "Two  Sorts  Shinto" 
was  compounded  out  of  the  pure  native  article, 
Buddhism,  and  Confucianism  :  Buddhism  gradually 
acquired  ascendancy  ;  and  though  for  two  centuries 
the  Mikado's  court  kept  alive  pure  Shinto,  the 
foreign  faith  practically  became  the  national 
religion,  until  the  Chinese  philosopher  Chu  Hi, 
after  studying  and  rejecting  both  Buddhism  and 
Taoism,  critically  revived  Confucianism  in  China : 
on  this  the  intellects  of  educated  Japan  followed 
suit  (a.d.  1200),  as  they  did  in  most  other 
Chinese  ways.  After  300  years  or  more  of  civil 
wars  it  was  that  men  began  to  search  for  "the 
ancient  principles  of  the  divine  age."  The  Shinto 
liturgies,  or  norito,  were  critically  studied — and  it 
may  be  added  none  of  the  revivalists  carry  these 
farther  back  in  date  than  the  seventh  century. 
It  is  only  necessary  here  to  name  the  chief 
apostle  of  revived  Shint5,  Motowori  (1730- 1796), 
though  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  both  predecessors 
and  successors  almost  as  notorious  as  himself  in 
that  enterprise.  He  explains  that  when  Chinese 
learning  first  came,  it  was  necessary  to  devise  a 
special  name  kami-no-micki  (gods,  their  road)  for 
the  lost  ancient  Japanese  customs ;  that  the 
Chinese,   having  no   traditions  of  the  divine   age, 


XII.]  POLEMICAL  DISCUSSIONS  255 

had  invented  the  theory  of  Heaven's  Decrees ; 
that  this  divine  "way"  of  Japan  was  established 
by  the  Male  and  Female  founders,  or  Creative 
Deities  of  Japan  ;  that  man  has  a  natural  know- 
ledge of  right  and  wrong ;  that  the  Chinese 
"benevolence,"  "justice,"  " ceremoniousness,"  and 
what  not,  were  the  inventions  of  "  Holy  Men,"  to 
serve  as  instruments  to  rule  a  vicious  population  ; 
that  ancient  Japan  was  spontaneously  well- 
governed  ;  that  shinto,  or  kami-no-micki,  is  not 
the  same  as  the  apparently  similar  Taoism  of 
Lao-tsz,  though  that  philosopher  certainly  hated 
the  vain  conceits  of  contemporary  scholars ;  but 
being  unfortunately  for  himself  born  in  an  unclean 
country,  he  did  not  know  that  the  gods  are  the 
authors  of  every  human  action,  etc.,  etc.  In  reply 
to  a  Japanese  Confucian  scholar  who  resented 
this  attack,  insinuated  that  the  Mikados  were 
chargeable  with  having  invented  the  stories  about 
the  earlier  ages,  and  charged  Motowori  with 
having  borrowed  wholesale  from  Lao-tsz,  the  latter 
attempted  to  prove  that  the  imperial  sepulchres 
from  Jimmu  downwards  still  existed  in  Japan, 
with  many  other  relics  of  the  divine  age  preserved 
at  court ;  and  that  some  old  Japanese  families 
had  even  transmitted  to  their  modern  descendants 
their  Shinto  liturgical  functions.  He  disclaims, 
however,  any  intention  to  make  Shinto  a  rule  of 
life ;  his  object  is  only  to  prove  what  it  really 
was,  and  to  disprove  the  allegation  that  the 
Japanese    were   an    uninstructed    people    until    the 


256  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

Chinese  came  to  civilise  them.  The  central  truth 
is  that  the  Mikado  is  the  direct  descendant  of 
the  gods,  and  in  consequence  that  Japan  ranks 
first  amongst  countries.  Motowori's  pupil,  Hirata, 
went  further ;  he  claimed  that  the  Japanese 
possessed  a  written  system  of  their  own  in  the 
"divine  age,"  and  aimed  at  establishing  a  real 
religion  on  the  Shinto  basis ;  every  Japanese 
was  thus  a  descendant  of  the  gods,  and,  as  such, 
superior  to  the  denizens  of  other  countries,  all  of 
which  should  sooner  or  later  fall  under  Japanese 
rule. 

As  a  political  engine,  it  is  manifest  that  these 
modern  conceptions  of  Shintd  may,  in  the 
prophetic  words  of  Sir  Harry  Parkes,  make  of 
that  cult  whatever  the  rulers  like ;  and  it  is 
equally  manifest  that,  if  ingeniously  manipulated 
so  as  to  admit  Chinese  imperial  pride  within  its 
orbit,  the  political  engine  might  vie  in  importance 
with  Orthodoxy,  Pan-Germanism,  or  any  other 
Western  statecraft ;  but  as  a  mere  philosophy, 
no  reasonable  being  acquainted  at  first  hand  with 
even  the  rudiments  of  Chinese  religious  history 
can  refuse  to  see  in  it  the  hand  of  tao,  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  has  been  extensively  drawn 
upon  by  both  Nestorianism  and  Judaism,  in  at 
least  an  illustrative  sense.  Touching  the  historical 
pretensions  of  the  Japanese  revivalists,  as  Mr 
Satow  truly  observed  in  1874,  and  again  in  1882, 
"such  of  their  conclusions  as  are  founded  on  the 
alleged    infallibility  of  the   ancient   records,   or  on 


■'>v-ifi^-y-^ 


A  Ijcautiful  Japanese  Teniplc. 


[  7b  face  p.  256. 


xu.]  SLENDER    BASES   OF   FACT  257 

any  premises  which  involve  the  supernatural, 
must  be  discredited ;  the  real  nature  and  origin 
of  Shin-tau  must  be  decided  by  the  usual  canons 
of  historical  criticism."  The  supposed  writing  of 
the  divine  aofe  has  been  discovered  to  be  identical 
with  the  vulgar  Corean  alphabet  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  which  again  was  inspired  by  the  Sanskrit 
letters.  Part  of  the  ancient  cosmogony  can  be 
traced  almost  word  for  word  to  the  Chinese.  As 
to  the  Kojiki,  the  storehouse  of  ancient  customs, 
its  own  preface  is  the  only  authority  for  the 
accepted  account  of  its  origin,  and  it  was  taken 
down  from  the  memory  of  a  retainer ;  and  that 
memory  was  only  stored  with  facts  which  a  deceased 
Mikado  had  related  to  him  or  her — for  the  very 
sex  is  doubtful.  The  Kojiki  is  entirely  written 
with  Chinese  characters,  used  phonetically  to 
represent  Japanese  sounds ;  if  a  native  alphabet 
had  existed,  why  was  it  not  used,  instead  of  this 
cumbrous  foreign  system  ?  The  Ni-hon-gi  (Chinese 
Ji-pen-ki  or  Japan  Annals),  in  tolerably  good 
Chinese,  is  only  dated  eight  years  later  than  the 
less  intelligible  Kojiki,  which  it  soon  practically 
superseded  ;  this  is  the  second  storehouse  of  fact, 
or  alleged  fact,  connected  with  the  ancient  life  of 
Japan.  Such,  in  brief,  is  the  criticism  of 
Mr  Satow. 

Though  the  Japanese  revivalists  admit  that  they 
introduced  the  word  shinto  in  the  sixth  century, 
they  do  not  seem  to  acknowledge  one  iota  more 
of  indebtedness  than   they  are  obliged  to  do ;    as 


258  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

we  have  seen,  the  "Book  of  Changes"  (just 
about  then  introduced  into  Japan)  is  the  authority 
for  both  the  word  and  its  definition.'  Taoism  and 
Confucianism  in  China  were  both  nourished  on 
the  "  Book  of  Changes,"  and  Taoism  (including 
natural  religion)  was  vulgarised  and  replaced  by 
Buddhism  in  China  just  as  any  natural  ideas  the 
Japanese  may  themselves  have  had  (or,  what  is 
more  likely,  imported  popular  Chinese  ideas)  were 
vulgarised  and  replaced  by  the  same  Buddhism. 
Pure  Taoism  has  never  ceased  to  affect  the 
cultured  Chinese  mind,  just  as  pure  Shinto- 
Taoism  has  never  ceased,  or  did  not  for  long  cease, 
to  affect  the  cultured  Japanese  court.  Motowori, 
and  Japanese  scholars  generally,  are  not  certain 
what  norito  means,  but  the  Chinese  characters 
used  by  the  Japanese  to  represent  the  purely 
Japanese  word  7iorito  are  chuh-ts'%,  meaning 
"invoking  language";  the  dissyllable  goes  back 
in  China  exactly  as  far  as  in  Japan,  i.e.  to  the 
T'ang  dynasty  of  China  (say,  700-900) ;  at  the 
same  date  the  Chinese  apply  the  word  chuh  to  the 
ritual  of  the  Manicheans  or  other  foreign  priests, 
and  to  the  invocations  of  themselves.  The 
Japanese  wTite  the  second  half  of  the  word 
kami-dana  (or  "spirit  shelf")  with  a  Chinese 
character  which  never  means  "shelf";  but  it  is 
plain  that  the  Chinese  word  Van  "an  altar"  is 
really  meant,  and  what  ought  to  be  written,  as 
in  the  precisely  corresponding  combination  shen- 
tan,  "  spirit  altar  " ;  this  would  seem  to  be  proved 


XII.]  MODERN    INSTANCES  259 

by  the  fact  that   the   Japanese  themselves  have  a 
word  butsudan  (for  the  Chinese    Vut-dan  or  Fuh- 
t'an)  meaning  "  Buddha  altar."     The  specimens  of 
norito   given    by  Mr    Satow    correspond    with    the 
prayers  of  the  Emperors  of  China  to  Heaven,  or 
to  the  notification  to  Heaven  of  important  dynastic 
events,   both   which   have   gone    on   from    4000   or 
5000    years    ago    up    to    this    day.       Thus,    when 
Nanking  was  taken  from  the  T'ai-p'ings,  in   1864, 
both  Heaven  and  his  ancestors  were  duly  notified, 
by  the    Emperor   himself,   of  that   important  fact ; 
in    the    same    way    the    justly    vaunted    Japanese 
reverence   for  ancestors    is    nothing  more   nor  less 
than   the   regular  and   periodical  ancestral  sacrifice 
of  ancient  China.     The  ascribing  of  victory  by  the 
Japanese  this   very   year   "to   the  virtues  of  your 
Majesty "   is   a  stock  Chinese  custom  and  a  stock 
Chinese   phrase ;    the    Emperor,    as    Vicegerent   of 
Heaven,  in  due  course  passes  on  the  acknowledge- 
ment   to    Heaven.       When    Yakub    Beg's    empire 
was  annihilated  in   1877,  General  Tso  Tsung-t'ang 
said  exactly  the  same  thing  to  the  reigning  Dowager 
and  her  son,   whose  virtues  are   by  no   means  so 
conspicuous  as   those  of  his   Majesty  Mutsuhito — 
at  least  in  European  eyes. 

The  following  arguments  of  the  revivalists  of 
pure  Shinto,  as  cited  by  Mr  Satow,  will  be  found, 
sometimes  almost  word  for  word,  either  in  the 
exhortations  of  the  ancient  classics  of  China  or  in 
the  Taoist  classic  : — 

"So  long  as  the  sovereign  maintains  a  simple 


26o  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

style  of  living,  the  people  are  contented  with  their 
own  hard  lot ;  their  wants  are  few,  and  they  are 
easily  ruled.  But  if  the  sovereign  has  a  magnificent 
palace,  gorgeous  clothing  [etc.],  the  sight  of  these 
things  must  cause  in  others  a  desire  to  possess 
themselves  of  the  same  luxuries.  .  .  In  ancient 
times,  when  men's  dispositions  were  straightforward, 
a  complicated  system  of  morals  was  unnecessary, 
...  it  was  unnecessary  to  have  a  doctrine  of  right 
and  wrong.  .  .  It  is  said  on  the  other  side  that, 
as  the  Japanese  had  no  names  for  benevolence, 
righteousness,  propriety  [etc.],  they  must  have 
been  without  those  principles  ;  but  .  .  .  they  exist 
in  every  country ;  in  the  same  way  as  the  four 
seasons  .  .  .  the  weather  does  not  become  mild 
all  at  once  .  .  .  nature  proceeds  by  gradual  steps. 
According  to  the  Chinese  \i.e.  Confucian]  view,  it 
is  not  spring  or  summer  unless  it  becomes  mild  or 
hot  all  of  a  sudden." 

Jimmu  is  represented  by  the  Nihongi  to  have 
said  : — 

"It  is  the  part  of  a  good  general  not  to  be 
haughty  after  conquering  in  battle." 

Motowori  argues  : — 

"The  Chinese  Holy  Men  also  invented  the 
"  Book  of  Changes,"  by  which  they  pretended  to 
discover  the  workings  of  the  universe.  .  .  The 
Chinese  nation  has  since  given  itself  up  to  philo- 
sophising, to  which  are  to  be  attributed  its  constant 
internal  dissensions.  When  things  go  right  of 
themselves,  it  is  best  to  leave  them  alone.  .  .  It 
is  because  the  Japanese  were  truly  moral  in  their 
practice  that  they  required  no  theory  of  morals.  .  . 
The  country  was  spontaneously  well-governed.  .  . 
To  have  acquired  the  knowledge  that  there  is  no 


XII.]  BORROWING  FROM    TAOISM  261 

micki  {tad)  to  be  learnt  and  practised  is  really  to 
have  learnt  to  practise  the  way  of  the  gods.  .  .  All 
the  moral  ideas  which  man  requires  are  implanted 
in  his  bosom  by  the  gods,  and  are  of  the  same 
nature  as  the  instincts  which  impel  him  to  eat 
when  he  is  hungry  and  to  drink  when  he  is 
thirsty.  .  .  The  foundations  upon  which  the  Ancient 
Learning  is  based  are  the  writings  in  which  the 
Imperial  Court  \i.e.  of  Japan]  has  recorded  the 
facts  of  antiquity.  .  .  It  is  not  wonderful  that 
[Japanese]  students  of  Chinese  literature  should 
despise  their  own  country  for  being  without  a 
system  of  [Confucian]  morals  ;  but  it  is  ridiculous 
that  Japanese  who  were  acquainted  with  their  own 
ancient  literature  should  have  pretended,  simply  out 
of  a  feeling  of  envy,  that  Japan  also  had  such  a 
system.  .  .  Precept  is  far  inferior  to  example,  for 
it  only  arises  in  the  absence  of  example.  .  .  As 
Lao-tsz  says :  '  When  the  Great  Way  decayed, 
Humanity  and  Righteousness  arose.'  .  .  Before  the 
origin  of  things  there  was  infinite  space ;  .  .  .  a 
thing  whose  shape  cannot  be  described  in  words 
came  into  existence  in  the  midst  of  space  ;  .  .  . 
this  thing  floated  in  space  .  .  .  without  any  support 
.  .  .  From  it  came  forth  something  sprouting  like 
a  horn  ...  it  widened  out  infinitely.  .  .  This  is 
what  in  the  Divine  Age  was  called  Heaven.  .  . 
In  the  same  way  there  grew  downwards  a  some- 
thing. .  .  These  are  the  progenitors  of  all  the  other 
gods.  .  .  It  is  not  necessary  to  quote  the  opinions 
of  foreigners  in  order  to  prove  that  the  heavens 
are  immovable  and  that  the  earth  revolves,  for 
these  facts  are  clear  enough  from  ancient  traditions  ; 
but  as  the  Westerners  have  elaborated  astronomy 
and  physical  geography  to  a  very  high  degree  of 
minuteness,  their  account  of  the  matter  is  more 
easily  comprehended.  .  .  The  principles  which 
animate  the  universe  are  beyond  the  power  of 
analysis  :   .   .  .   although  accurate  discoveries  made 


262  SHINTOISM  [CHAP. 

by  men  of  the  Far  West  .  .  .  infinitely  surpass  the 
theories  of  the  Chinese,  still  that  is  only  a  matter 
of  calculation,  and  there  are  many  other  things 
known  to  exist  which  cannot  be  solved  by  that 
means.  .  .  The  celebration  of  rites  in  honour  of 
the  crods  was  considered  in  ancient  times  to  be  the 
chief  function  of  the  Mikados.  .  .  Everything  in 
the  world  depends  on  the  spirit  of  the  gods  of 
Heaven  and  Earth,  and  therefore  the  worship  of 
the  gods  is  of  primary  importance.  The  gods  who 
do  harm  are  to  be  appeased,  so  that  they  may  not 
punish  those  who  have  offended  them,  and  all  the 
gods  are  to  be  worshipped,  so  that  they  may  be 
induced  to  increase  their  favours.  .  .  Although  in 
later  ages  many  foreign  customs  were  adopted, 
we  find  that  the  religious  rites  of  Shinto  always 
occupied  the  first  place  in  .  .  .  the  rules  and 
ceremonies  of  the  court." 

Thus  it  is  plain,  not  only  that  the  Japanese  have 
drawn  upon  the  "Book  of  Changes"  and  Lao-tsz 
for  their  Shinto,  but  also  that  their  revivalists 
admit  a  critical  knowledge  of  both  those  works, 
charge  each  other  with  imitation,  and  reproach  each 
other  with  a  vain  desire  to  invent  a  past  history 
and  system  of  morals ;  it  requires  no  European 
to  formulate  charges  and  incur  the  reproach  of 
jealousy.  There  is,  however,  nothing  heinous  in 
all  this,  so  long  as  deliberate  attempts  to  distort 
the  truth  are  not  made  and  cherished  in  the  inner 
arcana  of  the  governing  minds.  Statesmen  who 
consider  it  a  political  duty,  rightly  owing  to  the 
national  security,  may  think  fit  to  "keep  hidden 
the  machine  of  state  and  lull  the  people "  in  the 
way   we   see    stern    Lao-tsz    himself    recommends. 


XII.]         ARE  WE  SURE  OF  THE  TRUTH?        263 

Who  are  we  Westerns  to  censure  Japan  ?  What 
use  have  the  great  powers  of  Europe  made  of 
political  religion  ?  What  attitude  towards  applied 
science  has  the  Church  (from  which,  or  from  the 
source  of  which,  Nestorianism,  Orthodoxy,  and 
Protestantism  in  its  protean  forms  are  derived) 
itself  adopted  in  the  past  ? 

We  in  the  West  are  accustomed  to  plume 
ourselves  upon  our  superior  moral  qualities,  and 
we  like,  when  we  are  agreed  upon  their  existence 
(which  is  not  always  the  case),  to  place  them  to  the 
credit  of  our  religion.  It  is  scarcely  fair  to  blame 
the  Japanese  if  they  do  the  same  ;  and  the  extra- 
ordinarily noble  qualities  they  are  now  exhibiting 
to  an  astonished  world  may  well  give  us  pause, 
and  cause  us  to  ask  ourselves  whether  it  is  not 
possible  that  we  ourselves  may  be  on  the  wrong 
mental  tack.  The  human  mind  in  999  cases  out 
of  a  thousand  seems  incapable  of  shaking  itself 
free  of  the  mental  associations  which  assisted 
to  create  and  develop  it,  just  as  it  took  a  con- 
siderable time  for  railway  coaches  and  motor-cars 
in  turn  to  shake  off  the  "incurable  shape"  of 
a  horse-carriage.  The  Japanese  in  translating 
Western  books  are  beginning,  to  the  dismay  of 
our  missionaries,  to  leave  out  all  the  Christianity 
that  is  in  them.  But  never  mind  the  Japanese  ; 
take  the  following  summary  of  the  views  of  Pastor 
Fischer  as  explained  to  the  Protestant  Union  of 
Germany  and  published  in  the  London  press  : — 

"  The  religious  consciousness  of  former  genera- 


264  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

tions  was  based  on  divine  revelation.  It  laid 
emphasis  on  miracles  and  signs.  Divinely  given 
interpretation  was  held  to  be  the  real  and  in- 
dispensable object  of  a  genuine  faith,  so  that 
often  enough  the  revealed  Book  became  itself 
almost  a  God.  This  whole  conception  of  revela- 
tion has  now  disappeared  from  religious  thought ; 
it  was  a  product  of  religious  reasoning  under  the 
form  of  an  antique  philosophy.  No  longer  do 
heaven  and  earth  stand  opposite  each  other  as 
two  worlds.  We  do  not  now  believe  in  a  lower 
world  of  hell.  There  can  no  longer  be  any  claim 
to  a  revelation  in  the  old  sense  of  the  word,  and 
the  idea  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  certain  results 
of  modern  scientific  research.  It  is  beyond  doubt 
that  the  investigations  of  science  and  of  history, 
and  the  unprejudiced  researches  into  the  character 
of  original  Christianity,  which  have  been  going 
on  for  about  seventy  years  without  regard  to 
dogmas  and  doctrines,  have  made  religion  some- 
thing entirely  different  from  what  it  had  tradition- 
ally been  supposed  to  be.  It  has  been  found,  too, 
that  Christ  is  a  historical  person,  and  that  his 
activity  and  work  can  be  plainly  understood  in 
the  light  of  his  day  and  surroundings.  The 
historical  Christ,  without  any  signs  and  wonders, 
and  without  the  later  Christology,  is  what  the 
religious  consciousness  of  to-day  must  deal  with. 
The  deification  of  Christ  has  not  stood  the 
test  of  real  historical  investig-ation.  Such  o-reat 
problems  as  those  of  creation,  providence,  prayer 
and  its  hearing,  and  the  personality  of  God  wear 
an  entirely  new  aspect  in  the  light  of  modern 
science.  The  new  truths  must  be  recognised  in 
our  pulpits,  and  become  a  part  of  the  religious 
instruction  in  the  schools." 

Or    take    on    the    other    hand    the    views    of    the 


XII.]  RUSSIAN   VIEW   OF   RELIGION  265 

Procurator   of   the    Holy  Synod    in  his  Reflections 
of  a  Russian  Statesman  \— 

"  No  considerations  for  the  safety  of  the  State, 
for  its  prosperity  and  advantage,  no  moral  principle 
even,  is  itself  sufficient  to  strengthen  the  bonds 
between  the  people  and  its  rulers  ;  for  the  moral 
principle  is  never  steadfast,  and  it  loses  its  funda- 
mental base  when  it  is  bereft  of  the  sanction  of 
religion.  This  force  of  cohesion  will,  without 
doubt  be  lost  to  that  State  which,  in  the  name 
of  impartial  relationship  to  every  religious  belief, 
cuts  itself  loose  from  all.  The  Protestant 
Church  and  the  Protestant  faith  are  cold  and 
inhospitable  to  Russians.  For  us  to  recognise 
this  faith  would  be  as  bitter  as  death.  To  the 
present  day  Protestants  and  Catholics  contend 
over  the  dogmatic  significance  of  works  in  relation 
to  faith.  But  in  spite  of  the  total  contradiction 
of  their  theological  doctrines,  both  set  works  at 
the  head  of  their  religion.  In  the  Latin  Church 
works  are  the  justification,  the  redemption,  and 
the  witness  of  grrace.  The  Lutherans  regard 
works  and,  at  the  same  time,  religion  itself,  from 
the  practical  point  of  view.  .  .  .  The  Russians 
find  the  essence,  the  end  of  their  faith,  not  in  the 
practical  life,  but  in  the  salvation  of  their  souls. 
As  to  the  Church  of  England,  for  the  most 
part  the  preachers  are  the  journeymen  of  the 
Church,  with  extraordinary  whining  voices,  infinite 
affectation,  and  vigorous  gestures,  who  turn  from 
side  to  side,  repeating  in  varying  tones  conven- 
tional phrases,  etc.,  etc." 

Of  the  historian  Froude  he  says  that,  un- 
shakable and  fanatical,  he  holds  to  the  principles 
of    Anglican    orthodoxy,    the    base    of    which    he 


266  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

declares  to  be  the  recognition  of  social  duty, 
devotion  to  the  political  idea  and  to  the  law, 
to  the  implacable  chastisement  of  vice  and 
crime  and  idleness,  and  all  that  is  designated  by 
the  betrayal  of  duty.  He  approves  the  absence 
of  sermons  in  his  own  churches,  for  the  whole 
service  of  the  Orthodox  Church  is  the  best  of 
sermons.  Even  education  is  a  vain  form,  where 
its  roots  have  taken  no  hold  among  the  people, 
where  it  fails  to  meet  the  people's  necessities, 
and  to  accord  with  the  economy  of  its  life.  The 
example  of  foreign  countries  has  taught  Russia 
that  schools  may  do  as  much  harm  as  good  if 
they  serve  to  break  up  family  life,  and  if  the 
scholars  are  taught  unsuitable  subjects,  as  when, 
for  instance,  country  children  are  taught  in  a  way 
which  fits  them  only  for  a  town  life.  Experience 
proves  that  the  most  contemptible  persons — retired 
money-lenders,  Jewish  factors,  news-vendors,  and 
bankrupt  gamblers — may  found  newpapers,  secure 
the  services  of  talented  writers,  and  place  their 
editions  on  the  market  as  organs  of  public  opinion. 
The  healthy  taste  of  the  public  is  not  to  be  relied 
on.  Democracy  is  the  most  complicated  and  the 
most  burdensome  system  of  government  recorded 
in  the  history  of  humanity.  For  this  reason  it  has 
never  appeared  save  as  a  transitory  manifestation, 
with  few  exceptions,  giving  place  before  long  to 
other  systems. 

Thus  M.   Pobyedon6schtschoff     The  Japanese 


XII.]  IAN   MACLAREN'S   VIEWS  267 

and  the  Chinese  do  not  require  to  be  told  what 
Protestants  in  their  two  countries  think  of 
Cathoh'cs,  and  what  Catholics  think  of  Protestants. 
In  the  face  of  so  much  expressed  doubt,  we  can 
scarcely  wonder  —  however  complacently  certain 
we  may  any  of  us  be  in  our  own  minds  that  we 
are  right — that  the  Japanese  have  been  so  puzzled 
that  they  have  deliberately  elected  to  go  back  to 
the  beginning  of  things.  They — the  best-read  of 
them — are  well  acquainted  with  the  Chinese 
experiences,  as  imperfectly  summarised  in  the 
above  twelve  chapters ;  and  they  have,  in  their 
present  struggle  for  freedom,  an  object  lesson 
before  their  immediate  eyes. 

In  connection  with  the  recent  Wesleyan  Foreign 
Mission  anniversary  at  Birmingham,  the  Rev.  John 
Watson,  D.D.  ("Ian  Maclaren ")  preached  on 
"  Revivals  in  the  Church "  before  a  crowded 
congregation.  Being  one  of  the  most  deservedly 
popular,  and  at  the  same  time  intellectual  of  our 
nonconformist  divines,  his  remarks  are  peculiarly 
applicable  to  the  revival  movement  in  Japan. 
They  are  thus  summarised  by  a  northern  news- 
paper : — 

"He  said  revivals  had  been  characteristic  of 
religion  from  the  time  of  Moses  to  that  of  John 
the  Baptist,  and  the  same  phenomena  were  present 
in  the  work  of  Wesley  and  Moody.  Nature 
was  excited  and  unrestrained  in  the  spring-time, 
literature  had  its  periods  of  renascence,  and  there 
were  even  revivals  in  trade.  Why  should  not  the 
same  principle  apply  to   religion?     It  was   not  to 


268  SHINTOISM  [chap. 

be  expected  that  all  the  seed  sown  should  bear 
good  fruit.  Many  of  the  blossoms  that  appeared 
in  the  spring  were  blown  away.  Many  of  Christ's 
followers  deserted  Him  ;  but  His  mission  was  not 
in  vain,  and  there  remained  for  every  great  move- 
ment a  large  number  of  men  and  women  who, 
through  the  action  of  God's  Spirit,  came  home  to 
God,  and  afterwards  lived  godly  lives.  People 
who  complained  of  the  emotionalism  and  excite- 
ment of  a  religious  revival  should  remember  the 
emotionalism  of  a  Mafeking-  niorht  and  the  excite- 
ment  of  a  crisis  on  change.  A  corner  in  wheat 
was  a  serious  business  to  those  who  were  concerned 
in  it ;  and  a  religious  revival  was  a  serious  business 
for  those  who  were  concerned  about  their  souls' 
eternal  welfare.  In  judging  the  Welsh  revival, 
Enoflishmen  should  remember  that  what  was  mere 
emotionalism  in  the  eyes  of  a  prosaic  person  was 
the  highest  form  of  common-sense  to  a  Celt.  He 
had  found  it  necessary  to  plead  with  his  Celtic 
friends  that  they  should  not  judge  the  staid  and 
undemonstrative  Englishman  by  their  standard  of 
spiritual  imagination  and  religious  elevation,  and 
he  now  asked  his  hearers  to  make  allowance  for 
the  fact  that  the  Celtic  nature  was  emotional  and 
susceptible.  Their  young  men  saw  visions,  and 
their  old  men  dreamed  dreams.  Englishmen  were 
not  in  a  position  to  judge  as  to  what  was  seen  by 
Welshmen  ;  they  were  not  standing  on  the  same 
relioious  elevation.  It  was  o-ood  to  see  a  man 
deeply  moved,  and  it  was  better  to  see  him  moved 
by  religion  than  by  drink,  avarice,  political  passion, 
or  sectarian  bigotry.  Some  of  the  language  used 
by  the  W^elsh  revivalists  was  not  the  language  of 
the  study  or  the  drawing-room,  but  he  did  not 
know  that  religion  profoundly  affected  the  people 
in  the  studies,  and  he  wished  that  religion  would 
sometimes  sweep  through  the  drawing-rooms.  Was 
it  a  deplorable  thing  that  a  man  who  had  been  used 


XII.]      THE  CHIVALROUS  JAPANESE  SPIRIT    269 

to  uttering  the  name  of  the  Almighty  in  profanity 
should  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  call  upon  God 
in  penitence  ?  The  success  of  a  revival  depended 
on  the  man  rather  than  the  methods.  A  revival 
was  to  be  judged  by  its  results.  The  moral  effects 
of  the  Welsh  revival  were  universally  recognised, 
and  he  believed  that  the  revival  would  result  in 
a  great  extension  of  missionary  effort." 

The  bushi-do,  or  "  military  honour,"  which  is 
more  or  less  involved  in  the  new  spirit  of  revival 
in  Japan,  seems  to  be  in  no  way  historically  con- 
nected with  the  partly  mythical  and  partly  Chinese 
shen-tao,  or  its  Japanese  imitation  kami-no-michi. 
It  is  certainly  not  a  national  Chinese  feature, 
though  possibly  the  germs  of  it  may  be  discerned 
so  far  as  mere  theory  goes  in  the  wars  which 
ushered  in  the  Han  dynasty  (b.c.  212-200),  or  in 
the  wars  of  the  Three  Empires  (a.d,  168-265), 
which  last  are  responsible  for  the  production  of 
the  chief,  if  not  the  only,  really  chivalrous  romance 
in  the  Chinese  language ;  but,  even  so,  that 
romance  was  not  written  before  the  thirteenth 
century  under  the  Mongol  dynasty,  and  the  mere 
inculcation  of  a  chivalrous  spirit  never  seems  to 
have  resulted  in  the  wholesale  practice  of  it  in 
China.  There  is  not  a  single  instance  in  Chinese 
history  of  a  sustained,  noble,  generous,  and  brave 
patriotic  movement ;  all  emotional  zeal  is  family  or 
parochial ;  there  is  no  fraternity.  The  chivalrous 
spirit  that  animates  the  Japanese  in  such  a  marked 
degree  is  in  the  first  place  probably  inborn  in  the 
race,  which  has  always  known  how  to  preserve  its 


270  SHINTOISM  [chap.  xii. 

freedom  from  foreign  denomination ;  but  more 
directly  and  immediately,  probably,  to  the  three 
centuries  of  civil  war  which  preceded  the  long 
peace  of  the  Tokugawa  regime,  i.e.  which  preceded 
the  period  of  isolation  under  the  Tokugawa 
"Tycoons,"  brought  to  an  end  with  the  restoration 
of  the  direct  Mikado  rule  in  1868.  The  two- 
sworded  samurai  who  used  to  slash  the  British 
barbarians  in  the  streets  of  Yedo  forty  years  ago 
did  not,  in  our  eyes,  cut  such  a  noble  figure  as 
the  thousands  of  plebeian  soldiers  so  willing  to 
throw  their  lives  away  at  Nan-shan  or  Port  Arthur ; 
but  the  proud  spirit  was  the  same,  though  the 
labours,  trials,  and  disappointments  of  half  a 
century  may  have  chastened  and  broadened  that 
spirit  into  purer  and  less  personal  form.  In  their 
search  for  a  religion  and  for  a  principle  of  life, 
the  Japanese  may  have  made  historical  mistakes  ; 
but  the  whirligig  of  Time  has  brought  them 
their  ample  vindication,  and  more  than  one  great 
European  power  would  be  proud  to  possess  in 
its  people  half  the  patriotic  and  spiritual  qualities 
that  the  Japanese  in  one  mass  are  now  showing. 


APPENDIX 

The  Tao-teh  King,  or  "  Way-virtue  Scripture,"  of  Lao-tsz,  or  (as 
here  translated),  "  Providential  Grace  Classic." 

Division  I.— PROVIDENCE. 
{i.e.   Tao,  or  "  The  (Correct)  way.") 

{N.B. — The  numbers  in  brackets  in  the  text  refer  to  the 
paragraphs  which  repeat  the  same  words  or  ideas.  Though 
disagreeable  to  the  artistic  sense,  they  are  necessary  in  order  that 
general  readers  may  satisfy  themselves  what  Lao-tsz  really  meant.) 

1.  The  Providence  which  could  be  indicated  by  words 
would  not  be  an  all-embracing  Providence,  nor  would  any 
name  by  which  we  could  name  it  be  an  ever-applicable 
name  (14,  21,  25,  32,  37). 

"  Non-existence  "  is  a  name  for  the  beginning  of  heaven 
and  earth.  "  Existence "  is  a  name  for  the  genetrix  of 
the  innumerable  objects  (4,  10,  25,  32,  37)  of  creation. 

Hence,  "  absolute  non-existence "  suggests  to  us  the 
miraculous  working  (27)  of  what  in  "  absolute  exist- 
ence" has  become  the  resulting  essence  (21). 

These  two  emanate  from  the  same,  though  their  namings 
are  dissimilar,  and  jointly  they  are  termed  "  state  of  colour- 
less dissolution"  (10).  Dissolution,  again,  within  dis- 
solution thus  connects  us  with  the  various  miraculous 
workings  (6,  27). 

2.  All  the  world  knows  what  "  agreeable "  means,  and 
this  necessarily  connotes  "  disagreeable " ;  it  knows  in 
the  same  way  what  "  good  "  is,  which  connotes  "  not  good  " 
(29,  36). 


272  THE    TA0-T£:H    king 

Hence  "existence"  and  "non-existence"  (34)  have 
a  common  birth  ;  "  difficult  "  and  "  easy  "  have  a  common 
creation  ;  "  long  "  and  "  short  "  have  a  common  obvious- 
ness ;  "  high  "  and  "  low  "  present  a  common  contrast ; 
"  sound-waves  "  and  "  noise  "  have  a  common  unison  ; 
"before"    and    "after"    have    a    common    sequence   (10, 

14). 

Thus  the  highest  form  of  man  performs  his  functions 
without  display  of  activity  (37)  and  conveys  his  lessons 
without  display  of  words  (5). 

The  innumerable  objects  do  similarly  function,  and  this 
without  fail  (21,  34). 

Birth  without  existence  (10);  doing,  without  showing 
self-consciousness ;  achieving  results,  without  claiming 
them  (9,  22). 

And    it   is   precisely    that    no    claim    being   made   the 
results  do  not  vanish  (10,  22,  33). 

3.  Do  not  show  partiality  for  "  high  character  "  and  then 
you  will  make  people  refrain  from  competing  for  such 
distinction.  Place  no  special  value  upon  rare  possessions, 
and  thus  you  will  remove  folk's  temptation  to  robbery 
(12,  19).  Do  not  let  that  which  is  covetable  stand  before 
the  eye,  and  in  this  way  the  mind  will  not  be  disturbed. 

Hence  the  administration  of  the  highest  form  of  man  is 
directed  to  keeping  the  mind  unpreoccupied,  and  to  keeping 
the  belly  full  (35).  He  takes  strength  from  the  will, 
and  adds  strength  to  the  bones,  in  this  way  causing  the 
people  to  be  always  ignorant  of  what  they  thus  never 
covet ;  or,  at  any  rate,  causing  those  possessing  this  know- 
ledge to  shrink  from  any  action  upon  it.  By  this  policy 
of  "  not  raising  incidents,"  everything  will  conform  to 
order  (10,  15,  24,  29,  35). 

4.  Providence  used  with  restraint  need  not  exhibit  its 
full  force  (9).  It  is  profound  ;  and  like,  as  it  were,  the 
ancestral  progenitor  of  the  innumerable  objects  (i).  It 
checks  undue  impulse,  solves  entanglements,  subdues 
undue  brightness,  and  equalises  what  is  disagreeable. 
Balmy,   as   though   preserving   life  (27).     I  do  not  know 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  273 

whose   offspring   it    is,   but   indications   suggest   what   is 
anterior  to  any  monarchs  (25). 

5.  Heaven  and  earth  entertain  no  benevolence,  making 
the  innumerable  objects  serve  their  respective  purposes, 
just  like  we  utilise  the  straw  hounds  in  exorcising  at 
sacrifices.  In  the  same  way  the  highest  form  of  man 
entertains  no  over-tender  feeling,  utilising  the  people  just 
like  we  use  the  same  straw  hounds. 

We  might  say  the  space  between  heaven  and  earth 
will  compare  with  a  bellows  ;  being  empty,  and  yet  not 
curved,  needing  only  movement  to  put  forth  its  power. 
So  it  is  that  the  more  talk  we  employ  (2)  the  sooner  we 
reach  our  wit's  ends  (23) ;  whence  it  is  better  to  hold  a 
medium  course. 

6.  The  spirit  of  the  valley  of  space  never  dies  (15), 
and  this  is  what  is  called  the  progenetrix  of  neutral  dis- 
solution (i),  and  the  connection  of  this  dissolution  pro- 
genetrix (25)  may  be  termed  the  root  of  heaven  and 
earth.  It  extends  into  eternity  like  a  preserver  of  life  (4), 
and  is  inexhaustible  in  its  uses  (35). 

7.  Heaven  is  enduring,  and  earth  is  lasting.  The  reason 
why  heaven  and  earth  are  capable  of  this  is  that,  not 
having  created  themselves  from  any  thing,  they  are  thus 
able  to  go  on  existing  for  ever.  Thus  it  is  that  the 
highest  form  of  man  keeps  his  personality  in  the  back- 
ground, and  yet  it  asserts  itself  (i,  22)  ;  treats  his  own 
existence  from  an  objective  point  of  view,  and  yet 
preserves  that  existence.  It  is  not  that  he  possesses  no 
individuality,  but  it  is  in  this  way  that  he  is  capable  of 
developing  his  individuality. 

8.  The  highest  beneficence  resembles  water,  for  water 
is  always  ready  to  benefit  the  innumerable  objects,  yet 
never  contests  place  with  them  (34).  It  is  content  with 
that  low  level  which  all  men  abhor,  and  in  this  respect 
bears  some  analogy  to  Providence,  which  always  places 
itself  to  the  best  advantage,  excogitates  with  the  calmest 
depth,  dispenses  benefits  with  the  maximum  benevolence, 
speaks   with   the   greatest   truth,   governs  in    the   highest 

S 


274  THE   TAO-T^H    KING 

spirit  of  order,  utilises  the  best  abilities,  and  moves  on 
the  most  suitable  occasions.  In  a  word,  making  no  self- 
assertive  effort,  it  is  never  ill-advised  (22). 

9.  It  were  better  to  drop  a  matter  altogether  than  to 
push  it  to  the  fullest  extremes  (4,  29).  If  a  point  be 
ground  down  too  fine,  it  will  not  wear  so  long.  If  your 
treasures  fill  the  whole  house,  you  will  not  be  able 
to  look  after  them  all.  A  man  who  is  supercilious  about 
his  wealth  and  position  breeds  disaster  for  himself.  To 
retire  your  personality  after  your  objects  are  gained  and 
your  reputation  made  (2,  8) — such  is  the  Providence  of 
Heaven. 

10.  Carry  along  your  soul  with  singleness  of  purpose 
(22,  35),  and  see  if  you  can  be  constant.  Concentrate 
your  efforts  upon  gentleness,  and  see  how  far  you  can  be 
like  an  infant  (28).  Take  disinterested  and  dispassionate 
views  of  things  (16),  and  see  how  far  you  can  be  without 
blemish.  Love  the  people  and  order  your  state  so  far  as 
possible  without  making  work  (3,  35).  The  process  of 
evolution  opens  and  closes,  with  a  certain  indispensable 
female  element  (i,  20,  28).  The  process  of  intelligence 
develops  itself  with  a  certain  indispensable  element  of 
formal  science  (27,  36).  There  is  birth  and  there  is 
nurture  (51).  There  maybe  birth  without  concrete  exist- 
ence, just  as  there  may  be  action  without  assertion  of  it, 
and  development  without  direction  of  it  (34) ;  and  this  is 
what  we  may  style  the  colourless  dissolution  of  Grace  (i). 

11.  Just  as  thirty  spokes  united  in  one  hub  make  up 
the  serviceability  of  a  wheel  by  reason  of  the  hollow 
centre ;  or  as  manipulated  clay  turned  into  a  vessel 
becomes  serviceable  as  such  by  reason  of  the  vacuum 
within ;  just  as  the  spaces  for  windows  and  doors  left 
in  building  a  house  contribute  to  the  serviceability  of  a 
dwelling  by  reason  of  what  is  not  there ;  so  in  the  same 
way  what  concretely  exists  of  our  personalities  is  "  value 
received,"  which  may  be  further  realised  by  reason  of  any 
intangible  uses  to  which  we  may  spiritually  put  those 
persons. 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  275 

12.  The  five  primary  colours  are  apt  to  find  eyes  blind 
to  them  ;  the  five  musical  notes  are  apt  to  find  ears  deaf 
to  them  ;  the  five  flavours  are  each  apt  to  be  too  sharp 
to  the  taste ;  the  violent  exercise  of  the  chase  on  horse- 
back is  apt  to  produce  a  corresponding  craziness  of  mind. 
The  possession  of  rare  objects  (3)  is  apt  to  be  adversely 
obtained.  Hence  the  highest  form  of  man  pays  more 
attention  to  what  is  in  him  than  to  visible  things,  and 
ignores  the  latter  for  the  sake  of  the  former. 

13.  Be  apprehensive  alike  of  favour  and  disapproval 
(28).  Regard  great  evils  as  though  they  affected  your 
own  person.  What  do  I  mean  by  "  favour  and  dis- 
approval ? "  The  one  connotes  the  other,  and  you  should 
accept  favour  with  the  apprehension  that  you  may  one 
time  lose  it.  What  do  I  mean  by  "  regarding  great  evils 
as  though  they  affected  your  own  person  ? "  The  reason 
w^hy  we  experience  great  evils  is  because  we  have  person- 
ality. Had  we  no  persons,  what  evils  could  we  experience? 
Hence  he  who  values  the  empire  in  his  own  person  may 
be  entrusted  with  the  empire,  and  he  who  loves  the  empire 
in  his  own  person  may  be  charged  with  the  empire  (26). 

14.  What  does  not  form  an  image  to  the  eye  (35)  is 
characterised  as  [/,  or]  "  unbroken  planeness " ;  what  is 
imperceptible  to  the  sense  of  hearing  is  characterised  as 
[///,  or]  "  rarification  "  ;  what  is  not  tangible  to  the  grasp 
is  characterised  as  [wez,  or]  "  abstractness  "  (36).  As  these 
three  qualities  ^  do  not  permit  of  further  exploration,  they 
may  be  lumped  together  as  one  whole,  neither  exception- 
ally brilliant  above,  nor  exceptionally  dull  below.  Ever 
continuous!  Unsusceptible  of  a  name  (i),  it  resolves 
itself  once  more  into  a  nothingness  or  non-objectness  (16) ; 
what  may  be  called  shape  without  form,  or  aspect  without 
image;  what  may  be  called  "  fleeting  and  illusory "  (21). 
In  advancing  towards  it  we  distinguish  no  head ;  in 
following  after  it,  we  distinguish  no  rear  (2) ;  thus  do 
we  hold  on   to  the  ancient  Providence,  by  way  of  con- 

*  This   I-hi-ivei  is   the   "Jehovah"  spectre  conjured   up   in   the 
imaginations  of  Remusat  and  others. 


2/6  THE   TA0-T£:H    king 

trolling  modern  actuality :  thus  can  we  know  the 
ancient  beginnings,  or  what  may  be  called  the  phases  of 
Providence. 

15.  Those  who  filled  offices  (28)  most  creditably  in 
ancient  times  possessed  an  inspired  understanding  of  the 
[wet,  or]  abstract  and  the  inscrutable,  so  profound  as  to 
be  unknowable.  And  precisely  because  it  was  unknow- 
able were  they  fain  to  make  all  possible  allowances.  They 
used  the  prudence  of  a  man  crossing  rivers  during  winter, 
the  caution  of  one  dreading  to  give  offence  to  his 
neighbours,  They  were  deferential,  as  though  dealing 
with  unfamiliar  visitors ;  and  as  compliant  as  ice,  so  to 
speak,  which  is  just  on  the  thaw.  They  were  sound, 
and  like  as  it  were  rough-hewn  (28) ;  broad-minded  as 
a  valley  (6,  27) ;  mixing  indiscriminately  with  common 
men.  It  is  only  by  leaving  the  muddy  to  settle  that  it 
gradually  becomes  clear  of  itself;  and  it  is  only  by  a 
permanent  feeling  of  security  or  letting  alone  (3,  10,  35) 
that  results  gradually  respond  to  stimulus  applied.  Those 
who  abide  by  Providence  of  this  sort  have  no  wish  to 
assert  its  full  force  (4,  9).  In  a  word,  there  being  no 
exercise  of  full  force,  it  is  possible  to  go  on  wearing  it 
down  without  needing  any  fresh  renewal  of  it  (22,  45). 

16.  Aim  at  extreme  disinterestedness  (10)  and  maintain 
the  utmost  possible  calm  (26).  The  innumerable  objects 
display  their  activities  in  common,  and  all  we  have  to  do 
is  to  watch  into  what  they  resolve  themselves  (14):  for 
each  of  these  swarming  objects  reverts  to  its  original  root 
(14,  28),  and  this  reversion  to  the  root  signifies  calm; 
which  is  renewed  life  ;  which,  again,  means  perpetuity.  To 
understand  this  perpetuity  is  perspicuity  (10,  27,  36):  not 
to  understand  perpetuity  gives  rise  to  mischief  and  hurt. 
But  to  understand  perpetuity  means  tolerance  (15,  21); 
and  tolerance  is  public  spirit.  Public  spirit  is  Rule,  and 
Rule  is  Heaven.  Heaven  is  Providence,  and  Providence 
endures,  so  that  the  disappearance  of  our  persons  does 
not  imply  any  crisis  to  them  (25,  32). 

17.  As  to  the  Final  Clause,  those  below  are  conscious 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  277 

of  its  existence,  and  the  next  steps  are  to  love  it  and  to 
praise  it ;  the  next  to  fear  it ;  the  next  to  take  liberties 
with  it.  Hence  faith,  if  insufficient,  is  apt  to  become  no 
faith  at  all  (24).  It  is  cautious  (15)  and  weighs  words; 
so  when  results  are  achieved  and  things  evolve  (9),  the 
people  all  say  :  "  We  have  become  so  of  ourselves  "  (23,  25). 

18.  It  is  only  when  the  highest  form  of  Providence  loses 
its  hold  on  the  mind  that  we  hear  of  benevolence  and 
justice ;  and  it  is  only  when  sagacity  and  cleverness  have 
begun  to  appear  that  we  hear  of  great  deceptions.  It  is 
only  when  the  six  natural  social  ties  begin  to  work 
inharmoniously  that  we  hear  of  filial  piety  and  tenderness ; 
and  it  is  only  when  the  State  falls  into  incompetence  and 
confusion  that  we  hear  of  loyal  statesmen. 

19.  Could  we  put  an  end  to  the  highest  grade  of  men, 
and  get  rid  of  sagacity,  the  people  would  be  a  hundredfold 
the  better  for  it.  Could  we  put  an  end  to  benevolence  and 
get  rid  of  justice,  the  people  would  revert  to  more  primitive 
filial  piety  and  tenderness.  Could  we  put  an  end  to  artful- 
ness and  get  rid  of  gain,  robbers  and  thieves  would  vanish 
(3).  In  these  three  instances  it  is  the  inadequacy  of  our 
means  of  literary  expression  (32)  which  causes  us  to 
create  ideals.  We  should  show  simplicity  and  abide  by 
the  unartificial :  we  should  have  fewer  interests  and  less 
desire. 

20.  Could  we  put  a  stop  to  "  learning,"  no  great  harm 
would  be  done.  Whether  we  say  "  Just  so,"  or  "  Oh,  dear  !  " 
what  does  it  matter?  Whether  the  point  is  good  or  is 
bad,  what  great  difference  does  it  make?  But  what  all 
mankind  dreads,  we  are  each  of  us  bound  to  dread.  A 
wilderness !  and  with  no  end  to  it !  Every  one  comes 
flocking  in  as  though  taking  part  in  the  great  annual 
fetes,  or  bent  upon  the  satisfaction  of  desire.  I  only  am 
indifferent  to  all  this,  and  feel  no  inducements :  like  an 
infant  before  he  has  reached  boyhood  (10,  28),  drifting 
along  in  a  purposeless  manner !  Other  people  all  seem 
to  have  more  than  they  need,  and  I  only  seem  to  be  left 
out.     Indeed  I  have  the  mind  of  a  simpleton,  going  stolidly 


278  THE   TAO-T6h    KING 

along.  Whilst  other  men  are  clear  enough,  I  alone  seem 
to  be  muddled  ;  whilst  other  men  have  their  wits  about 
them,  I  alone  am  easy-going.  Illusory,  like  the  ocean ; 
beating  about,  like  as  though  without  stopping.  All  other 
people  have  something  to  do,  and  I  only  feel  like  a  mean 
dolt.  I  only  am  unlike  other  men,  and  I  like  to  seek 
sustenance  from  my  mater  creatrix  (i,  lo,  25). 

21.  The  tolerance  (15,  16)  of  the  fullest  Grace  is 
based  solely  upon  Providence  as  a  principle;  but  as  to 
the  entity  of  Providence,  it  is  as  fleeting  as  it  is  illusory 
(14).  The  images  suggested  by  it  are  illusory  in  their 
fleetingness,  and  the  objects  yielded  by  it  are  just 
as  fleeting  in  their  illusoriness.  In  that  dark  vista  of 
space  (i)  there  are  vital  essences:  those  essences  are 
unadulterated,  and  out  of  them  comes  truth;  and  its 
name  never  leaves  it  (i)  as  it  unfolds  the  panorama  of 
created  things.  And  thus  it  is  that  we  know  of  the 
actual  existence  of  the  created  things. 

22.  It  is  by  bending  that  we  survive,  by  giving  way 
that  we  assert.  It  is  by  lowliness  that  we  exercise  full 
force  (4,  9),  by  wear  and  tear  (15)  that  we  go  on 
renewing.  It  is  by  owning  little  that  we  possess  much 
(33);  by  owning  much  that  bewilderment  comes.  For 
which  reasons  the  highest  form  of  man  is  single  in 
purpose  (10)  as  an  example  to  the  rest  of  the  world 
(28).  He  shines  because  he  does  not  show  himself  off; 
is  convincing  because  he  does  not  justify  himself; 
successful  because  he  does  not  proclaim  success  ;  enduring 
because  he  does  not  assert  himself  (24).  In  a  word, 
making  no  self-assertive  effort  (2,  8),  no  one  else  in  the 
world  can  successfully  assert  against  him.  Thus  we 
cannot  say  that  the  ancients^  meant  nothing  by  the 
expression  "  Bend  and  Survive."  Of  a  truth,  it  is  survival 
and  reversion  as  well  (14,  25). 

23.  Few  words  and  spontaneity!  (5,  25).  Thus  the 
swishing  wind  lasts  not  out  the  morn,  nor  does  the 
pelting  rain  endure  throughout  the  day.     And  who  does 

1  Lao-tsz'  own  allusion  to  more  ancient  philosophy. 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  279 

this?  Heaven  and  earth!  So,  even  heaven  and  earth 
cannot  keep  up  long  :  how  much  more,  then,  is  it  so  in 
the  case  of  man  !  Hence  those  who  occupy  themselves 
with  Providence  are  equal  in  Providence  so  far  as 
Providence  goes ;  are  equal  in  Grace  so  far  as  Grace 
goes  ;  and  are  equal  in  lapses  so  far  as  lapses  go.  As 
to  those  equal  in  Providence,  Providence  is  only  too 
glad  to  have  it  so;  as  to  those  equal  in  Grace,  Grace 
is  only  too  glad  to  have  it  so ;  as  to  those  equal  in 
lapses,  lapses  are  only  too  glad  to  have  it  so.  When 
faith  is  insufficient,  it  is  apt  to  become  no  faith  at  all  (17) 

24.  Those  who  stand  on  tip  -  toe  gain  no  footing : 
those  who  sprawl  out  their  legs  make  no  advance.  Those 
who  show  themselves  off  do  not  shine  (29) ;  those  who 
justify  themselves  are  not  convincing ;  those  who  proclaim 
successes  do  not  succeed  ;  those  who  assert  themselves 
do  not  endure  (2,  8,  22).  Their  position  as  regards 
Providence  is  like  that  of  an  over-feeder  or  a  fussy- 
doer  (3),  which  is  apt  to  provoke  men's  repulsion  (31). 
Hence  those  who  really  possess  Providence  do  not 
willingly  consort  with  such  persons. 

25.  Things  existing  in  a  chaotic  state  had  been  produced 
before  heaven  and  earth  (i,  32).  In  solemn  silence  stood 
the  solitary  subjectivity,  without  any  changes  taking 
place  ;  revolving  without  any  crisis  (16).  We  may 
consider  this  the  "mother  of  the  world"  (6,  20).  As 
we  cannot  know  its  name,  we  may  apply  to  it  the  term 
"  Providence,"  and  make  a  shift  to  use  the  word  "  great- 
ness "  as  its  name.  Now  "great"  suggests  going  on, 
going  on  suggests  distance,  and  distance  suggests  return 
(22).  Hence  there  are  the  greatness  of  Providence,  the 
greatness  of  Heaven,  the  greatness  of  Earth,  and  the 
greatness  of  the  Emperor  (4).  There  are  four  majesties 
in  the  concrete  worldly  organism,  of  which  four  the 
Emperor  is  one.  Man  looks  up  to  Earth  for  guidance, 
Earth  to  Heaven,  Heaven  to  Providence,  and  Providence 
to  Spontaneity  (17,  23). 

26.  Just  as  what  is  weighty  must  be  regarded  as  the 


28o  THE   TAO-T6h   KING 

fundamental  origin  or  root  (6)  of  what  is  light,  so  is 
calmness  the  master  spirit  of  impetuousness.  For  which 
reason  the  accomplished  man  travels  throughout  the  day 
without  leaving  his  caravan  ;  and  though  there  may  be 
fine  things  to  see,  he  remains  serenely  above  them  all. 
How,  then,  should  an  imperial  autocrat  "treat  lightly" 
the  empire  in  his  own  person?  (13).  By  levity  he  loses 
his  ministers'  confidence  ;  by  impetuousness  he  compromises 
his  princely  dignity  (16). 

27.  He  who  walks  judiciously  leaves  no  tell-tale  foot- 
steps behind.  He  who  speaks  judiciously  leaves  no  taint 
of  censoriousness  behind.  He  who  calculates  judiciously 
needs  no  tallies  to  do  it  withal.  He  who  closes  judiciously 
can,  without  the  use  of  bolts,  effectually  prevent  an  open- 
ing. He  who  knots  judiciously,  needs  no  strings  to 
prevent  the  untying  of  it.  For  which  reason  the  highest 
form  of  man  always  by  preference  rescues  people,  and 
therefore  never  abandons  people ;  he  always  by  preference 
rescues  creatures  (4),  and  therefore  never  abandons 
creatures.  This  is  what  is  called  persisting  in  clear- 
sighted intelligence  (36).  Hence  the  good  man  is  the 
teaching  model  for  the  bad  man,  and  the  bad  man  is 
the  objective  upon  which  the  good  man  works.  He  who 
does  not  value  (13)  his  model  or  love  (13)  his  material, 
must  go  far  wrong,  no  matter  how  knowing  he  be.  This 
is  the  real  mysterious  working  of  it  (i). 

28.  Know  the  masculine  or  stronger  aspect,  but 
maintain  due  regard  for  the  feminine  or  weaker  (10,  36), 
in  your  capacity  of  vivifying  stream  irrigating  the  world 
(32);  in  which  capacity,  permanent  Grace  never  leaving 
you,  you  will  revert  to  infantine  innocence  (10).  Know 
the  whiter  or  more  aethereal  aspect,  but  maintain  con- 
sideration for  the  darker  or  material,  in  your  capacity 
of  pattern  (22)  to  the  world  ;  in  which  capacity,  permanent 
Grace  never  failing  you,  you  will  revert  to  the  infinite 
(14,  16).  Know  the  favour  or  glory  aspect,  but  maintain 
a  due  estimate  of  the  disapproval  or  disgrace  (13)  in 
your   capacity  of  broad-mind    to   the  world  (15,  32);   in 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  281 

which  capacity,  permanent  Grace  being  sufficient,  you 
will  revert  to  rough-hewn  simplicity  (15,  32).  When 
this  simplicity  has  gone,  the  result  is  a  manufactured 
article,  which,  as  utilised  by  the  highest  form  of  man, 
takes  the  form  of  administrative  officials  (15).  Hence 
the  grand  standard  is  not  tampered  with  or  mutilated. 

29.  When  it  comes  to  taking  possession  of  empire 
and  instituting  active  steps  (3),  it  seems  to  me  that 
here  we  have  a  case  of  nilly-willy  (31).  Empire  is  a 
spiritual  engine,  which  does  not  admit  of  really  orthodox 
administration,  and  those  who  try  their  hands  at  it  are 
apt  to  come  to  grief;  those  who  grasp  at  it  only  do  so 
to  see  it  slip  away.  Hence  men  must  either  lead  or 
be  led  ;  be,  so  to  speak,  the  inhalers  or  exhalers  (36) ; 
either  the  powerful  or  the  decrepit;  the  individual  must 
support  his  burden  or  collapse  (36).  Thus  it  is  that 
the  highest  form  of  man  avoids  extremes  (9),  avoids 
showiness,  avoids  luxury  (24). 

30.  Those  who  support  and  counsel  the  rulers  of 
mankind  under  the  principles  of  Providence  do  not 
make  use  of  military  force  to  compel  the  world.  Such 
a  course  is  wont  to  bring  retribution ;  for  brambles 
spring  out  from  the  land  which  has  been  occupied  by 
an  army,  and  years  of  dearth  are  certain  to  follow  in 
the  wake  of  great  battalions.  Hence  the  beneficent  man 
(8,  27)  is  satisfied  with  attaining  his  end,  not  venturing 
to  proceed  onwards  therefrom  in  order  to  impose  by 
force  ;  attaining  his  end  without  self-assertion  (2), 
attaining  it  without  proclaiming  success  (24),  without 
exhibiting  arrogance ;  attaining  his  end  because  it  is 
a  case  of  nilly-willy  (29) ;  attaining  it  without  over- 
bearingness.  For  all  creatures  begin  to  age  at  maturity 
(14,  16,  28),  and  such  action  would  mean  "lack  of 
Providence,"  lack  of  Providence  indicating  that  an  end 
is  soon  coming. 

31.  Now,  glory  in  warfare  is  an  inauspicious  engine, 
and  mankind  are  apt  to  show  their  hate  of  it  (24) ;  hence 
those   who   really    possess    the    principles    of    Providence 


282  THE    TAO-T^H    KING 

will  have  no  truck  with  it  (24).  For  this  reason  the 
accomplished  man  in  his  civilian  capacity  takes  an 
Eastern  life  -  giving  seat  or  attitude ;  whilst,  when  in 
charge  of  troops,  he  prefers  the  Western,  or  life-taking  ; 
warfare  being  an  inauspicious  engine,  and  not  the  engine 
of  an  accomplished  man,  who  only  makes  uses  of  it  in 
cases  of  nilly-willy  (29,  30).  He  makes  a  colourless  calm- 
ness (37)  his  chief  aim,  and  hence  has  no  good  word  for 
war :  if  he  had,  he  would  be  delighting  in  it,  and  such  a 
delight  in  it  would  be  equivalent  to  delighting  in  human 
butchery.  Now,  a  person  who  should  take  delight  in 
human  butchery  could  never  make  himself  acceptable  to 
the  empire  at  large  (35).  The  left,  or  east  side  is  specially 
affected  to  auspicious  matters  ;  and  the  right,  or  west  to 
the  ill-starred.  Thus  it  is  that  the  general  in  charge 
of  a  special  column  takes  the  left  position,  whilst  the 
commander-in-chief  is  always  to  the  right ;  meaning  that, 
as  occupying  the  highest  status,  he  must  be  particularly 
associated  with  the  insignia  of  death  and  destruction. 
When  the  butchery  of  human  beings  is  very  heavy,  we 
should  bewail  the  fact  with  weeping  and  mourning ;  and 
thus,  when  the  victor  emerges  from  the  fight,  he  should  be 
associated  with  the  insignia  of  death  and  destruction. 

32.  Providence  is  perpetual,  and  destitute  of  any  name 
(i,  37).  Though  the  rough-hewn  man  (28)  may  be  obscure, 
not  even  the  whole  world  is  competent  to  subdue  his 
spirit.  If  our  rulers  could  but  abide  by  principle,  all 
creation  (i,  25,  37)  would  flock  to  them.  It  is  the  union 
of  heaven  and  earth  (25)  that  brings  down  the  sweet  dews  ; 
and  in  the  same  way  the  people  can  adjust  themselves 
without  need  for  legal  sanctions  (37).  Names  were  given 
when  the  first  statutory  sanctions  appeared  (19),  and 
names  thus  coming  into  existence,  it  became  possible  to 
know  where  to  stop,  for  through  knowing  where  to  stop  we 
avoid  a  crisis  (16,  25).  The  function  of  Providence  in  the 
world  may  be  compared  with  the  functions  of  streams  and 
valleys  in  relation  to  the  Great  River  and  the  Sea  (28). 
33.  He  who  understands  other  men    is  sagacious,  but 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  283 

he  who  understands  himself  is  clear-sighted  (36).  He  who 
can  overcome  other  men  is  strong,  but  he  who  overcomes 
himself  is  mighty.  He  who  knows  content  is  rich  (22). 
It  is  he  that  persists  who  owns  the  potency  of  will.  It 
is  he  that  shows  tact  whose  capacities  endure  (2,  10,  22). 
It  is  those  who  die  without  being  forgotten  who  enjoy 
true  old  age. 

34.  The  highest  form  of  Providence  is  universal,  and 
always  at  hand.  The  innumerable  objects  of  creation 
(i,  25,  33)  depend  upon  its  unfailing  action  for  their  exist- 
ence (2).  It  achieves  results  which  yet  cannot  be  named 
(37)  as  concrete  being  (i,  2),  and  cherishes  the  innumer- 
able objects  without  disclosing  the  directing  power  (10). 
Hence  it  is  ever  without  desire  (37),  nothing  being  too 
minute  for  it.  The  innumerable  objects  revert  to  it 
(14,  25)  and  yet  are  unconscious  of  its  directing  power, 
nothing  being  too  great  for  it.  Hence  the  highest  form 
of  man  never  magnifies  himself,  and  is  thus  always  great 
in  achievement  (8,  10,  15). 

35.  The  empire  will  go  out  to  him  who  holds  fast  to 
great  symbols  (10);  will  go  out  to  him  with  a  sense  of 
security  ;  all  feeling  easy  in  body  and  calm  in  mind,  in 
enjoyment  of  hospitable  music  and  feasting,  only  limited 
by  the  departure  of  welcome  strangers  (3).  The  savour 
of  Providence  as  thus  manifested  is  destitute  of  distinct 
taste ;  it  is  incapable  of  forming  an  image  to  the  eye  (14), 
and  is  equally  imperceptible  to  the  sense  of  hearing ;  but 
its  effects  are  inexhaustible  (6.) 

36.  If  there  is  to  be  attraction,  then  the  centrifugal  idea 
is  connoted,  just  as  the  notion  of  weakening  inevitably 
involves  that  of  strength  (29),  the  act  of  deposing  that 
of  setting  up  ;  just  as  the  intention  to  take  possession 
assumes  that  there  is  possessio.  These  may  be  termed 
the  abstract  indications  (14,  15,  27)  of  clear  sight  (33). 
But  the  soft  and  weak  may  overcome  the  hard  and  strong 
(28) ;  hence  the  fish  should  not  try  to  leave  his  tank,  and 
the  effective  weapons  of  state  should  not  be  paraded  before 
the  public  in  whose  interests  they  are  used. 


284  THE    TAO-T^H    KING 

37.  Providence  is  perpetually  without  active  purpose 
(2,  32),  and  yet  leaves  nothing  undone.  If  our  rulers 
could  but  abide  by  principle,  all  creation  (32)  would 
improve  its  own  line  of  conduct.  Should  this  improving 
development  show  tendency  to  restless  activity,  I  would 
propose  to  check  it  with  that  unnameable  rough-hewn- 
ness  (25,  28,  32,  34)  ;  and  as  this  unnameable  rough- 
hewnness  will  have  no  desires  (34),  from  this  absence  of 
desire  we  reach  calm  (31);  and  thus  the  world  will  right 
itself. 


Division  II. 
{i.e.   Teh,  "Virtue,"  or  "Grace.") 

38.  The  highest  Grace  (41)  makes  no  pose  of  Grace, 
and  for  this  reason  really  is  Grace ;  whilst  the  lower 
quality  of  Grace  may  never  divest  itself  of  Grace,  and 
yet  never  feels  like  true  Grace. 

The  highest  Grace,  avoiding  action,  finds  no  necessity 
to  act;  whilst  the  lower  quality  of  Grace  takes  action, 
yet  still  finds  it  necessary  to  act. 

The  highest  benevolence  (18,  19)  takes  action,  and 
then  finds  no  necessity  to  act;  the  highest  justice  (19) 
takes  action,  yet  still  finds  it  necessary  to  act. 

The  highest  form  of  ceremoniousness  takes  action,  yet 
finds  no  response  at  all,  so  that  one  must  bare  the  arms 
and  go  on  with  action  (69). 

Thus  it  is  that  as  Providence  weakens,  Grace  takes  its 
place  ;  as  Grace  weakens,  benevolence  takes  its  place  ;  as 
benevolence  weakens,  justice  takes  it  place ;  as  justice 
weakens,  forms  and  ceremonies  take  its  place.  Now, 
mere  forms,  being  the  degenerate  pha.ses  of  loyalty  (18) 
and  truth,  are  the  first  beginnings  of  anarchy  (18,  64). 
Forwardnesses  and  smartnesses  are  mere  ornamental 
excrescences  of  Providence,  and  are  the  commencement 
of  imbecihty  (48). 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  285 

For  these  reasons  the  manly  fellow  takes  his  stand  on 
what  is  honest  or  worthy,  and  will  have  no  truck  with  the 
superficial  or  degenerate ;  he  takes  his  stand  on  the  real, 
and  will  have  no  truck  with  the  showy.  Hence  he  ignores 
the  latter  for  the  sake  of  the  former  (12,  Ti). 

39.  Instances  of  concentration  or  unification  of  effort 
in  the  past  are  clearness  in  the  case  of  the  heavens,  repose 
in  the  case  of  the  earth,  spirituality  in  the  case  of  the  gods, 
fulness  (45)  in  the  case  of  space  (6),  life  in  the  case  of 
created  objects  (34),  purity  in  the  face  of  the  world  in 
the  case  of  our  rulers  (32,  37,  42).  The  oneness  of  purpose 
is  identical  in  each  instance.  Unless  the  heavens  can  be 
clear,  there  is  a  possibility  of  their  being  rent  asunder ; 
unless  the  earth  can  be  in  repose,  there  is  the  possibility 
of  its  quaking  ;  unless  the  gods  can  be  spiritual,  there  is 
the  possibility  of  their  being  inactive ;  unless  the  valley  of 
space  (6)  can  have  fulness  (4),  there  is  a  possibility  of  its 
being  exhausted  (15);  unless  the  innumerable  objects  of 
creation  can  have  life  (21,  34),  there  is  the  possibility  of 
their  annihilation  ;  unless  our  rulers  can  be  pure  and 
esteem  loftiness,  they  may  come  to  grief  (32,  42). 

Hence  the  more  distinguished  take  their  root  in  the 
mean,  and  the  more  exalted  have  their  foundation  in  the 

lowly  {yy^ 

For  which  reason  our  rulers,  in  speaking  of  themselves, 
have  used  the  terms  "  bereaved  one,"  "  unworthy  one," 
"ill-endowed  one"  (42).  This  is  taking  their  root  among 
the  mean,  surely,  is  it  not  ? 

Hence  it  comes  that  if  we  carefully  count  up  separately 
each  piece  that  goes  to  form  a  cart  (ii),  we  have  no  cart 
at  all.  We  must  not  go  into  nice  questions  or  fine  dis- 
tinctions as  to  what  is  a  rare  gem  and  what  a  common 
stone  in  the  whole  body  of  principle  (23). 

40.  "  Return "  indicates  the  movements  of  Providence 
(25,  65,  78),  and  "weakness"  indicates  the  uses  of 
Providence  (78).  Heaven,  Earth,  and  the  innumerable 
objects  of  creation  derive  their  being  from  existence  (i,  10, 
34) ;  and  existence  derives  its  being  from  non-existence. 


286  THE   TAO-T^H    KING 

41.  The  highest-minded  candidates  for  office  (15),  after 
undergoing  instruction  in  Providence,  put  it  zealously  into 
practice  (53,  70);  the  mediocre  ones,  after  listening  to 
Providence,  are  as  much  dead  as  alive  about  it ;  the 
inferior  ones,  after  listening  to  Providence,  make  great  fun 
of  it.  Did  they  not  ridicule  it,  it  would  scarcely  deserve 
to  be  considered  Providence.  Hence,  as  it  is  put  by  those 
who  expound  these  matters,  the  brilliancy  of  Providence 
comprises  a  certain  dulness  (14);  the  [t  or]  unbroken 
planeness  of  Providence  comprises  certain  distinctive- 
nesses (14);  the  advance  of  Providence  (62)  comprises  a 
certain  retiringness  (9). 

The  highest  Grace  is  like  a  valley  (15,  28) :  very  white, 
and  yet  comprising  disgrace.^  The  broadest  Grace  is  as 
though  insufficient,  and  in  establishing  Grace  there  is  a 
certain  stealthy  diffidence  (15):  an  homogeneous  body, 
yet  in  a  state  of  flux.  A  perfect  square  is  without 
angularities ;  a  great  machine  or  utensil  takes  long  to 
finish  ;  great  sound-waves  make  [At  or]  small  noise  (2,  14) ; 
a  great  symbol  (35)  has  no  obvious  form  (2).  Providence  is 
inscrutable  and  nameless  (i,  25,  32,  34,  37).  In  short, 
Providence  rejoices  in  endowing  man  (8)  with  the 
wherewithal  to  perfect  himself 

42.  Providence  produced  unity  ;  unity  produced  duality  ; 
duality  produced  trinity ;  and  trinity  produced  the  in- 
numerable objects  (i,  2,  4,  25);  the  innumerable  objects, 
carrying  the  feminine  or  shadow  principle  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  masculine  or  sun-light  principle  on  the  other, 
creating  a  just  harmony  by  their  respective  clashes  of 
primitive  impulse  or  ether  (6,  25,  55). 

The  things  which  all  men  abhor  (8,  24,  31)  are  being 
"  bereaved,"  like  orphans  ;  being  "  unworthy "  or  out  in 
the  cold,  like  widows  ;  and  being  "  ill-endowed,"  as  with 
the  necessaries  of  life ;  yet  our  princely  and  ducal  readers 

1  I  am  very  unwilling  to  suggest  alterations  in  the  text  ;  but  a 
reference  to  Par.  28  certainly  leads  to  the  belief  that  the  ancient 
copyists  must  have  omitted  a  phrase,  and  that  the  whole  should  run  : 
"  white  suggests  [Hack,  and  glory  suggests]  disgrace." 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  287 

(32,  37,  39)  precisely  adopt  these  terms  to  style  themselves 
withal  (39).  Hence  living  creatures  may,  whilst  taking  off 
from,  yet  add  to ;  or,  whilst  adding  to,  take  off  from. 
What  men  themselves  teach,  I  will  also  teach  to  them. 
The  violent  (55)  do  not  find  a  happy  death,  and  therefore 
it  is  that  I  am  taking  them  as  the  text  of  my  homily. 

43.  The  tenderest  things  in  the  world  may  over-ride 
the  toughest  (22,  55,  78),  just  as  a  hard  thing  may  take  its 
rise  from  nothing,  and  enter  where  there  is  no  opening^ 
(10).  Whence  we  may  know  how  it  is  that  inaction 
(2,  3,  63,  etc.)  has  its  advantages.  Lessons  without  display 
of  words  (2,  56,  73),  advantageous  results  without  doing 
anything — [^/ or]  few  men  (14)  in  the  world  can  attain  to 
this  point. 

44.  The  reputation  or  the  person  (7,  9),  which  of  the 
two  is  dearer  to  us  ?  Of  which  do  we  want  most,  of  our 
persons  (9)  or  of  wealth  ?  Which  does  the  more  harm 
(22),  acquisition  or  losing?  For  these  reasons,  deep 
attachment  to  anything  must  involve  heavy  cost,  and 
great  accumulations  involve  correspondingly  enormous 
losses.  He  who  is  content  (33,  46)  risks  no  humiliations 
(13,  28,  41,  and  41  note).  He  who  knows  when  to  stop 
incurs  no  crisis  (16,  25,  32,  52),  and  may  therefore  endure^ 
(7,  16,  44,  59)- 

45.  In  the  highest  degree  perfect,  yet  accepting  an 
air  of  imperfection  (7),  with  capacity  for  use  without 
exhaustion  (6,  15,  22).  Possessing  the  highest  degree  of 
fulness  (39),  yet  used  with  restraint  (4),  such  use  being 
never  pushed  to  extremes  (9).  In  the  highest  degree 
straight,  yet  with  an  air  of  bending  (22).     In  the  highest 

1  This  mysterious  sentence,  which  permits  the  imagination  to  run 
riot  in  various  fancies,  would  have  been  totally  unintelligible  to  me 
had  I  not  discovered  from  the  Concordance  that  Vainancius  (2nd 
cent.  B.C.)  quotes  it,  with  the  addition  of  the  three  words  "hard 
emanates  from,"  as  printed  in  italics. 

2  The  context  here  suggests  that  the  allusion  to  "names"  in  Par. 
32  perhaps  refers  rather  to  a  man  knowing  when  to  stop,  with  a 
"  reputation  made,"  without  risking  his  person  on  further  ambitions 
or  showy  schemes. 


288  THE   TAO-TlfcH    KING 

degree  artful  (19,  57),  yet  with  an  air  of  clownishness  (20). 
With  the  highest  capacity  for  argumentativeness  (81),  yet 
with  hesitation  to  speak  (2,  5,  17,  22).  Impetuousness  (26) 
overcomes  cold,  but  calm  (16,  57)  overcomes  heat.  Clear 
(15)  and  calm  are  needed  to  put  one  right  or  orthodox  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Empire  (22,  28,  37,  39,  56). 

46.  When  the  Empire  is  possessed  of  the  principle  of 
Providence,  the  pacing  chargers  are  driven  back  to  do 
tillage  work  ;  but  when  the  Empire  is  destitute  of  such 
Providence,  then  war-horses  spring  up  outside  all  our 
towns  (31).  There  is  no  greater  sin  (46)  than  looking 
upon  the  covetable  (3) ;  there  is  no  greater  evil  (69)  than 
discontent  (33,  44)  ;  there  is  no  greater  disaster  (9)  than 
acquisitiveness.  Hence  the  enough  of  contentment  is 
always  enough. 

47.  One  may  know  the  world  without  ever  crossing  the 
threshold  ;  one  may  discern  the  Providence  of  Heaven 
(9,  16,  25,  79)  without  ever  looking  out  of  the  window. 
In  fact,  the  farther  abroad  you  go,  the  less  you  may 
know.  For  which  reason  the  highest  form  of  man  knows 
without  walking  forth;  gives  names  to  (35)  without 
seeing;  and  accomplishes  without  seeming  to  do  any- 
thing (2,  3,  10,  34). 

48.  In  learning,  the  object  is  to  get  on  every  day 
(20,  64).  In  practising  Providence,  the  aim  should  be  to 
do  less  and  less  every  day  (38),  and  to  go  on  decreasing 
what  we  do  until  we  arrive  at  complete  inaction 
(10,  29,  47);  in  such  wise  that  whilst  not  seeming  to  do 
anything  we  leave  nothing  undone  (37).  Hence  those 
who  secure  Empire,  generally  manage  it  without  much 
ado  (29,  35,  57,  63);  and  when  much  ado  is  made  about 
it,  it  will  be  found  that  those  who  try  to  secure  it  are 
unequal  to  the  task. 

49.  The  highest  form  of  man  has  no  fixed  mind  ;  he 
makes  the  mind  of  the  people  his  mind  (3).  With  the 
good  we  should  show  goodness  ;  with  those  who  are  not 
good  we  should  also  show  goodness  (27),  in  order  to  grace 
goodness.      To  the   truthful    we   should    show   truth ;    to 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  289 

those  who  are  not  truthful  we  should  also  show  truth,  in 
order  to  grace  truth  (8,  21,  38,  63,  81).  The  highest  form 
of  man  in  his  relation  to  the  world  (32)  is  apprehensive 
(13,  15),  and  allows  his  whole  soul  to  go  out  freely  to  the 
world  ;  whilst  the  people,  on  the  other  hand,  have  their 
eyes  and  ears  incessantly  hanging  upon  him ;  and  the 
highest  form  of  man  thus  regards  them  all  as  his  children. 

50.  Like  as,  waxing  to  the  full  and  waning  to  the 
eclipse,  the  waxing  units  numbering  thirteen  whole  days, 
and  the  waning  units  numbering  thirteen  (76) ;  so  with 
man's  birth  until  his  busy  career  (40)  ends  in  death,  there 
are  also  thirteen  phases.  And  why  so?  On  account  of 
his  persistency  in  keeping  up  life  (75).  For  I  have  heard 
that  persons  possessing  the  secret  of  life  never  encounter^ 
a  rhinoceros  or  a  tiger  when  they  walk  abroad  ;  never 
need  to  strap  on  sword  or  buckler  (80)  when  they  go  to 
the  wars.  The  rhinoceros  cannot  find  in  them  the  where 
to  lodge  his  horn  withal ;  the  tiger  cannot  find  in  them 
the  where  to  place  his  claws  withal ;  the  weapon  cannot 
find  in  them  the  wherein  to  insert  its  point.  And  why  so  ? 
Because  for  such  an  one  there  is  no  finding  death  (7). 

51.  Being  born  of  Providence  (25,  41),  nurtured  by 
Grace  (10),  shaped  by  mortals,  and  completed  by  circum- 
stances, the  innumerable  created  objects,  for  this  very 
reason,  without  exception  revere  Providence  and  honour 
Grace  (62).  Now  this  revering  of  Providence  and 
honouring  of  Grace  was  never  a  conferred  distinction,  but 
always  was  so  spontaneously  (17,  25,  64).  Hence 
Providence  bears  all  things,  nurtures  ^  them,  develops 
them  (10),  and  rears  them  ;  completes  them,  ripens 
them,  tends  them,  and  protects  them  (34).  Birth  without 
concrete  existence  (2,  10),  action  without  self-conscious 
assertion   of  it   (2,    10,    JJ^^    and    development    without 

^  Other  citations  of  this  figure  of  speech  suggest  "never  shirk 
encounter  with  "  as  being  the  original  idea  intended. 

^  One  of  my  copies  adds  the  word  "  Grace  "  before  "  nurtures,"  but 
a  majority  of  citations  leads  me  to  expunge  it,  in  spite  of  the  preceding 
sentence. 

T 


290  THE   TAO-T^H    KING 

direction  of  it  (lo,  34) — this  is  what  is  called  the  colourless 
dissolution  of  Grace  (10,  62,  65). 

52.  When  the  world  had  its  beginning  (i,  14,  42),  it 
was  as  though  the  world  had  a  mother  (i,  20,  25,  59). 
Having  thus  the  creating  genetrix,  the  created  offspring 
(4)  became  cognizable ;  and  this  offspring  being  known, 
reverts  (16)  to  maintain  the  genetrix  (28) ;  the  dis- 
appearance of  persons  not  involving  any  crisis  (16,  25,  32, 
44).  If  you  keep  your  mouth  closed  (23,  43)  and  your 
eyes  and  ears  half  shut  (9,  15,  27),  you  will  get  through 
life  without  being  busy  ;  but  if  you  open  your  mouth,  and 
further  this  or  that  interest,  your  life  will  not  suffice  to  put 
you  right  again.  To  detect  small  indications  is  per- 
spicuity (16,  36,  55).  To  maintain  the  weaker  or  gentler 
aspect  means  strength  (10,  28,  36,  43,  76,  78).  Utilise  the 
brightness  of  it  (4,  58),  and  allow  the  brilliancy  to  revert 
once  more  (14,  28),  not  leaving  behind  any  injury  to  the 
body  (9) ;  this  is  what  is  called  persisting  in  (27)  perpetuity 
(16). 

53.  Let  me  possess  knowledge  in  a  detached  frame  of 
mind,  and  exercise  it  in  the  service  of  the  highest  Providence 
(18,  34) ;  the  sole  anxiety  being  how  to  use  it  so  :  for  the 
highest  form  of  Providence  is  exceedingly  [z  or]  level  and 
undeviating  (14,  41),  though  most  men  prefer  short  cuts. 
Our  royal  courts  are  very  spruce,  while  our  fields  are  over- 
grown with  tares,  and  our  granaries  are  very  empty  :  we 
wear  rich  raiment,  carry  sharp  swords,  gorge  ourselves  with 
food  and  drink  (24,  75,  77,  80),  and  have  more  wealth  than 
we  know  what  to  do  with  (9,  yy) ;  this  is  what  may  be 
called  "  all  dancing  to  the  wicked  piper " :  it  is  most 
assuredly  no^  Providence. 

54.  Good  builders  do  not  pull  up  ;  good  holders  do  not 
let  go.  Thus  it  is  as  with  the  ancestral  sacrifices  which  for 
ever  have  been  offered  by  our  posterity.  Cultivated  in 
one's  own  person,  such  Grace  is  genuine  (21,  41) ;  cultivated 
in  the  family,  such  Grace  is  abundant ;  cultivated  in  the 
village,  such  Grace  is  permanent ;  cultivated  in  the  State, 
such  Grace  is  fertilising  ;  cultivated  in  the  Empire,  such 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  291 

Grace  is  universal.  Therefore,  as  touches  your  person 
regard  it  from  the  personal  point  of  view  ;  as  touches  your 
family,  regard  it  from  the  family  point  of  view ;  as  touches 
your  village,  regard  it  from  the  village  point  of  view  ;  as 
touches  the  State,  regard  it  from  the  State  point  of  view  ; 
as  touches  the  Empire,  regard  it  from  an  imperial  point  of 
view.  And  thus  it  is  how  I  am  able  to  know  that  the 
Empire  view  is  such  (21,  57). 

55  One  who  is  deeply  permeated  by  Grace  may  be  com- 
pared with  newly-born  infants  (10,  20,  28).  Venomous 
creepers  do  not  sting,  fierce  beasts  do  not  seize,  birds  of 
prey  do  not  clutch  them.  Though  their  bones  be  soft  (3) 
and  their  sinews  tender,  they  can  grasp  firmly.  Though 
they  know  nothing  of  sexual  connection  (61),  they 
experience  erectile  dilatation,  this  being  the  ultimate 
determination  of  the  essences  (21)  within  them.  They 
howl  all  day  without  making  their  throats  hoarse,  the 
result  being  a  harmonious  balance  of  forces  (42).  To 
know  this  harmony  is  perpetuity  (16)  ;  to  understand  this 
perpetuity  is  perspicuity  (16);  to  go  increasing  life  is 
auspicious  (16,  31).  The  exercise  of  impulse  by  the  mind 
(10,  42)  is  potency  (33).  But  when  beings  reach 
maturity,  they  begin  to  fall  off ;  which  means  the  reverse 
of  Providence ;  and  without  Providence  the  end  soon 
comes  (30,  80). 

56.  Those  who  know  best  speak  least ;  those  who 
speak  most  are  apt  to  know  least  (2,  5,  17,  23,  43,  73,  81). 
Keep  your  mouth  closed,  and  your  eyes  and  ears  half  shut 
(52).  Check  undue  impulse,  solve  entanglements,  sub- 
due undue  brightness  (58),  and  equalise  what  is 
disagreeable  (4),  which  is  called  the  colourless  dissolution 
shared  in  common  (i).  There  ought  not  to  be  any  undue 
affection  (79)  nor  any  undue  repulsion.  There  ought  not  to 
be  any  question  of  deriving  advantage  (73),  nor  any  of 
inflicting  injury.  There  ought  not  to  be  any  respecting  of 
persons,  nor  any  contemning  of  persons  (^39).  And  thus 
you  become  esteemed  in  the  eyes  of  the  Empire  {22,  23, 
37,  39,  62). 


292  THE   TAO-TlfeH   KING 

57.  We  should  use  orthodox  (45,  57)  measures  in 
administering  (3,  8,  59,  64)  the  Empire  (10,  60,  65), 
just  as  we  may  use  exceptional  or  surprise  measures  in 
manoeuvring  troops  (31,  69)  ;  and  possession  of  Empire 
should  be  obtained  with  as  little  ado  as  possible  (29,  48). 
Thus  it  is  that  I  know  (21,  54)  that  this  is  so.  The  more 
artificial  prohibitions  there  are  in  the  Empire,  the  poorer 
are  the  people.  The  more  weapons  of  power  (36)  are 
entrusted  to  the  people,  the  more  blundering  is  the  govern- 
ment likely  to  be  (18).  The  more  cunning  arts  the 
people  learn,  the  greater  the  flood  of  strange  objects  of 
luxury  (15).  The  more  legal  enactments  there  are,  the 
more  thieves  and  robbers  will  abound  (19).  Hence  the 
highest  form  of  man  says  (78) :  So  long  as  I  am  inactive 
(2,  3,  10,  38,  43,  48),  the  people  will  improve  their  own 
line  of  conduct  (37);  so  long  as  I  love  calm  (16),  the 
people  will  right  themselves  (37) ;  so  long  as  I  'make  no 
ado  with  them  (48),  the  people  will  get  rich  by  themselves 
(33)  I  so  long  as  I  am  without  desire  (34,  37),  the  people 
will  be  simple  of  their  own  accord  (15,  19,  28,  32,  37). 

58.  If  the  administration  be  easy-going  (20),  the  people 
will  be  unsophisticated  ;  if  the  administration  exercise  its 
wits  inquisitorially  (20),  the  people  will  be  lacking  or 
imperfect  (45).  Evil  or  disaster,  forsooth,  may  be 
promptly  succeeded  by  attendant  happiness ;  just  as 
happiness,  forsooth,  may  have  evil  lurking  behind  it.  Who 
can  know  when  the  turning  point  will  come?  Surely 
but  there  is  no  stopping  to  it  !  (20).  The  regular  becomes 
once  more  the  exceptional  (57).  The  good  becomes  once 
more  the  hurtful  (20).  In  fact,  the  people  have  been 
going  astray  or  wrong  (27)  for  a  very,  very  long  time. 
For  this  reason  the  highest  form  of  man  is  like  a  square 
which  is  not  to  be  chipped  (28,  41)  ;  pure  without  a  flaw  ; 
straightforward  (45)  without  abuse;  bright  but  not 
dazzling  (4,  52,  56). 

59.  In  managing  men  as  in  serving  Heaven,  there  is 
nothing  like  economising  forces  {6y).  Now,  this  economy 
is  what  may  be  termed  early  self-subjection,  and  early  sub- 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  293 

jection  means  a  heavy  accumulation  of  Grace  ;  with  a 
heavy  accumulation  of  Grace,  there  is  nothing  but  what 
can  be  conquered  ;  and  when  there  is  nothing  but  what 
can  be  conquered  (63),  then  no  one  can  know  where  the 
end  will  be  ;  when  no  one  knows  where  the  end  will  be,  it 
is  possible  to  possess  the  State  power  (29,  78) ;  and  there 
being  thus  the  genetrix  of  State  power  (52),  there  is  a 
likelihood  of  its  enduring  (7,  44).  This  is  called  deepening 
the  roots  and  strengthening  the  stem,  being  that  Providence 
which  is  enduring  and  everlasting  (7,  44). 

60.  Administering  a  great  state  (57)  is  like  cooking  a 
mess  of  fish.  If  you  approach  the  empire  armed  with 
Providence,  the  devils  will  no  longer  possess  spiritual 
powers  ;  not  that  the  devils  will  not  actually  possess  such 
powers,  but  with  them  they  will  be  unable  to  injure  men  ; 
not,  again,  that  they  themselves  will  do  no  harm  to  men  ; 
but  even  the  highest  form  of  man  will  do  no  injury  to  men. 
Now,  as  neither  side  does  an  injury  to  man,  therefore 
Grace  falls  in  reversion  to  both  the  spiritual  and  human 
aspect  of  man  (52), 

61.  Great  states  should  allow  favour  to  flow  down  on 
those  below  (8).  The  world's  intercourse  is  practically 
the  world's  female  (6,  55).  The  female  usually  by 
quiescence  (15,  16,  26,  37)  overcomes  the  male  (78),  and 
quiescence  or  calmness  represents  the  inferior  or  below 
(43).  Hence,  when  a  great  state  is  conciliatory  or 
deferential  to  a  small  state,  it  ends  by  taking  the  small 
state ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  when  the  small  state  is 
humble  and  respectful  to  the  great  state,  it  "  captures  "  the 
great  state.  Hence  whether  by  lowliness  you  are  taken,  or 
by  lowliness  you  take,  in  the  case  of  the  great  state  it  only 
wishes  to  annex  and  nurture  individuals  (10,  51)  whilst  in 
the  case  of  a  small  state  it  only  wishes  to  take  part  in 
serving  (59)  individuals.  In  either  case  the  desired  object 
is  gained.     Hence  the  great  should  be  lowly. 

62.  "Providence"    is    the    esoteric    principle^   of    the 

'  The  word  ao  is  practically  the  same  in  meaning  as  the  word  wei 
(14),  which,  indeed,  is  actually  used  to  explain  what  ao  means  ;  more- 


294  THE   TA0-T6H    KING 

innumerable  created  objects  (14),  the  jewel  of  the  good 
man  (27,  6^,  69),  the  stand-by  of  the  bad  man  (27).  Nice 
words  (81)  will  always  find  a  market,  and  noble  deeds 
will  never  come  amiss  to  folk.  How  is  it  possible  to 
abandon  people  (27)  because  of  their  want  of  goodness  ? 
Hence,  in  setting  up  an  Emperor,  or  in  appointing  the 
three  chief  Ministers,  although  it  may  be  glorious  for  them 
to  sit  in  a  state  chariot,  preceded  by  jewelled  sceptre 
bearers,  it  were  better  for  them  to  remain  at  home  and 
advance  their  store  of  Providence  (41).  Why  was  it  that 
the  ancients  honoured  (51)  this  Providence  so  highly? 
Was  it  not  that  they  looked  for  answers  to  their  prayers 
and  hoped  for  remission  of  their  sins?  (46).  For  this 
reason  was  it  esteemed  throughout  the  world  (56), 

63.  Act  with  the  least  possible  dwelling  on  action  (2, 
57,  etc.) ;  employ  means  with  the  least  possible  ado  (48, 
57,  etc.);  taste  with  the  least  possible  dwelling  on  the 
savour  (12,  35).  Make  the  big  as  little,  make  the  many 
as  few  as  possible  (4).  Requite  enmity  (75)  with  Grace. 
Overcome  difficulty  when  there  is  least  resistance  (9). 
Achieve  maximum  results  by  minimum  means  (31).  All 
the  difficult  things  in  the  world  are  evolved  out  of  easy 
individual  items,  and  all  the  great  things  in  the  world  are 
evolved  from  petty  individual  items.  Hence  the  highest 
form  of  man  never  unduly  magnifies,  and  is  thus  able  to 
achieve  results  of  magnitude  (34).  Now,  he  who  lightly 
consents  is  sure  to  be  little  trustworthy  (26,  81):  he  who 
regards  most  things  as  easy  will  find  the  most  difficulties 
(69).  For  which  reason  the  highest  form  of  man  always 
inclines  to  see  possible  difficulties  (73),  and  thus  in  the 
end  finds  no  difficulty  (13). 

64.  It  is  easy  enough  to  maintain  peace  when  you 
already   have    it.     It   is   easy   enough    to   form    effective 

over,  the  words  hiian-ao  and  hiian-wei  are  both  used  to  express  the 
same  "  colourless-abstruseness  "  which  is  so  difficult  to  translate,  and 
which  eludes  every  effort  of  the  mind  to  grasp  or  realise  :  it  seems 
to  be  the  "  Absolute "  or  "  Void "  of  our  Western  philosophers,  who 
probably  scarcely  understand  themselves  what  they  mean. 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  295 

schemes  (73)  before  trouble  or  inducement  arises  (20). 
It  is  easy  enough  to  break  what  is  already  brittle.  It 
is  easy  enough  to  disperse  what  are  already  [7vet  or] 
insignificant  indications  (14,  36).  Take  action  before  a 
matter  becomes  concrete  being  (i,  14).  Keep  order  before 
confusion  (18,  38)  arises,  A  tree  you  can  scarcely  clasp 
with  your  arms  (^6)  originated  with  a  slip  or  seed.  The 
nine-storeyed  tower  ^  begins  with  a  pile  of  earth.  The 
thousand-furlong  journey  commences  with  the  first  foot- 
step. Those  who  try  their  hands  at  action  are  apt  to 
come  to  grief;  those  who  grasp  at  a  thing  are  apt  to  see 
it  slip  away  (29).  But  the  highest  form  of  man,  by  not 
making  work  (2,  63,  etc),  escapes  coming  to  grief;  and 
by  not  grasping  at  a  thing,  does  not  see  it  slip  away  (8). 
The  way  most  people  go  about  a  piece  of  business  is 
usually  to  ruin  it  when  just  on  the  point  of  completion. 
Be  as  careful  at  the  end  as  at  the  beginning,  and  then 
you  will  not  spoil  a  piece  of  business.  For  which  reason 
the  highest  form  of  man  desires  that  which  others  do  not 
desire  (8,  37),  and  places  no  value  upon  rare  possessions 
(3,  12);  he  makes  a  study  of  what  others  do  not  study  ^ 
(20,  48),  and  goes  back  to  that  (14,  16,  19,  28,  52,  80) 
which  the  generality  of  people  pass  by,  in  order  to 
encourage  the  principle  of  spontaneity  (17,  23,  25,  51)  in 
all  created  objects,  and  their  hesitation  to  do  anything 
which  need  not  be  done  (3). 

65.  Those  who  in  ancient  times  were  good  hands  at 
Providence  did  not  use  it  to  educate  the  people  (36,  57) ; 
they  used  it  to  befool  them  (38),  The  reason  why  the 
people  are  so  hard  to  govern  (75)  is  that  they  are  apt  to 
know  too  much  (18,  27,  33,  36) ;  and  therefore  a  man  who 
governs  his  state  on  "knowing"  or  sagacity  principles  (19) 

^  This  cannot  reasonably  be  supposed  to  have  anything  to  do  with 
Buddhist  pagodas,  which  always  have  an  odd  number  of  stages.  The 
"  Sublime  Porte,"  or  gate  of  the  royal  palaces,  was  known  as  the 
'Nine  Storey"  many  centuries  before  Buddhism  was  heard  of  in 
China. 

2  The  philosopher  Chwang-tsz  develops  this  idea  in  rather  a 
more  complicated  sense. 


296  THE   TAO-T^H    KING 

is  a  traitor  to  the  state,  whilst  one  who  is  not  "  knowing  " 
in  his  government  of  the  state  is  a  blessing  to  the  state. 
He  who  understands  these  two  points  may  take  them  for 
his  model,  and  the  fact  of  understanding  such  a  model  (22, 
28)  is  what  is  called  the  colourless  dissolution  of  Grace  (ro, 
51).  This  colourless  Grace  extends  deep  and  far^  indeed 
(25),  re-acting  upon  created  objects  (40),  until  at  last  it 
attains  to  perfect  accord  (55). 

66.  The  reason  why  the  Great  River  and  the  Sea  are 
able  to  rule  over  the  countless  streams  (28,  32,  78)  is  that 
the  former  are  good  at  placing  themselves  in  a  low  place 
of  receptivity  as  compared  with  the  latter  (7,  8,  68,  76) ; 
hence  they  are  able  to  act  as  the  ruling  impulse  to  the 
countless  streams.  For  this  reason  the  highest  form  of 
man,  when  he  wishes  to  place  himself  above  the  people, 
must  in  his  language  place  himself  below  them  (22,  y6) ; 
if  he  wishes  to  take  precedence  of  the  people,  he  must 
keep  his  personality  in  their  background  (7,  9),  For  which 
reason  the  people  make  no  objection  (80)  when  the  highest 
form  of  man  is  in  occupation  of  the  superior  position  ;  the 
people  suffer  no  injury-  (35)  when  he  occupies  a  front 
position.     And  then  the  Empire  is  delighted  to  acclaim 

^  China's  first  great  historian  Sz-ma  Ts'ien  (B.C.  100),  who  frequently 
quotes  whole  sentences  of  the  Canon,  in  discussing  the  comparative 
merits  of  Lao-tsz  and  his  imitators  Chwang-tsz,  Han  Fei-tsz,  and  Shen 
Puh-hai,  says  : — "  They  all  draw  their  inspiration  from  the  idea  of 
Providence  and  Grace  {tao-teh)^  but  Lao-tsz  goes  deepest  and 
farthest ; "  and,  again :  "  I  have  found  Han  Fei-tsz  particularly 
difficult  to  understand." 

~  Puh-hai,  or  "no  injury,"  or  "sense  of  security,"  is  the  name  of 
the  philosopher  Shen-tsz,  mentioned  in  the  last  note :  he  is  the 
Chinese  Draco,  and  died  B.C.  337 — a  further  proof  of  the  genuine 
antiquity  of  Lao-tsz'  book.  In  same  way  the  Pao-p''uh,  or  "show 
simplicity,"  of  Par.  19  gives  the  name  to  the  later  Tavist  philosopher 
Pao-p''uh-tsz,  of  the  fourth  century  ;  and  Kwan-yin-tsz,  or  "  Pass 
official,"  gives  the  literary  name  to  Lao-tsz'  friend  for  whom  he  wrote 
the  work  I  now  translate.  The  fact  that  the  private  name  of  the 
Tao'xst  philosopher  Lieh-tsz  (Licius)  is  taken  from  an  expression  in 
the  "  Book  of  Changes  "  (Yii-k'ou)  only  increases  the  general  evidence 
in  favour  of  the  all-round  genuineness  and  continuity  of  Tao\si  history. 


THE  TAOIST   CLASSIC  297 

him,  and  does  not  get  weary  of  him  (72),  the  reason  being 
that,  making  no  self-assertive  effort  (3,  8,  68,  73,  81),  no 
one  else  in  the  world  can  successfully  assert  against 
him  (22). 

6j.  The  world  all  mistakenly  says  I  am  great  with 
the  appearance  of  not  being  equal  to  what  I  preach. 
Now,  it  is  precisely  on  account  of  the  grandeur  of  my 
subject  that  I  appear  unequal  to  it.  If  I  appeared  equal 
to  it,  I  should  be  remaining  small  for  a  very  long  time 
indeed.  But  at  least  I  can  possess  three  of  its  gems, 
value  them,  and  hold  on  to  them  :  to  wit,  tenderness  (18, 
19) ;  to  wit,  thriftiness  (59)  ;  to  wit,  an  objection  to  placing 
myself  in  front  of  the  rest  of  the  world  (3,  7,  66) ;  through 
being  tender-hearted  one  is  able  to  display  bravery  (73) ; 
through  being  thrifty  one  is  able  to  display  profusion  ; 
through  hesitation  to  stand  in  front  of  the  rest  of  the 
world  one  is  able  to  qualify  as  administrative  instrument 
(15,  28).  No!  The  kind  of  bravery  which  is  without 
tenderness  (31),  the  profusion  which  is  without  thriftiness, 
the  forwardness  which  is  without  retiringness — these  will 
land  you  at  death's  door.  But  with  tenderness  you  conquer 
in  the  attack  (68),  and  are  all  the  firmer  in  the  defence ; 
for  Heaven  will  come  to  your  rescue  (27),  and  with  the 
same  tenderness  protect  you  (69). 

68.  Those  who  serve  as  officers  most  creditably  (15)  are 
never  blustering ;  those  who  are  the  best  hands  at  fighting 
never  lose  their  tempers  ;  those  who  are  best  at  gaining 
victory  never  strive  (73)  in  emulation ;  those  who  are 
best  at  utilising  other  men  yield  place  to  them.  This  is 
called  the  Grace  which  doth  not  strive  (8) ;  this  is  called 
the  capacity  for  utilising  mankind  (33);  this  is  called 
being  on  a  par  with  Heaven — the  highest  ideal  of  all 
time  (9,  16). 

69.  It  has  been  said  by  military  strategists: — "Better 
be  the  visitor  than  the  visited  ; "  and  again  : — "  Better 
retire  a  foot  than  advance  an  inch"  (57).  This  is  called 
action  without  acting  (38),  baring  without  the  arms  (38), 
going  on  (38)  without  the  enemy,  grasping  without  the 


298  THE   TA0-T£:H    KING 

weapons.  There  is  no  greater  evil  (46)  than  despising  an 
enemy,  for  in  despising  the  enemy  you  risk  losing  one  of 
my  gems  (67).  Hence  when  it  comes  to  the  hand-to-hand 
fight,  it  is  the  compassionate  or  bewailing  man  who 
conquers  (31,  67,  yS). 

70.  What  I  say  is  very  easy  to  understand,  and  very 
easy  to  do ;  but  the  world  is  incapable  of  understanding 
it  and  incapable  of  doing  it  (20,  6"],  78).  The  words  have 
a  progenitor  (4),  as  the  affairs  instanced  have  a  master- 
spirit (26)  ;  but,  as  general  ignorance  prevails  (3),  of  course 
I  myself  am  not  understood.  Those  who  understand  me 
being  so  \Jii  or]  few  (14),  it  thus  redounds  to  my  honour. 
For  these  reasons,  the  highest  form  of  man  is  content  with 
a  rugged  exterior  and  the  knowledge  of  his  own  hidden 
value  (3,  12,  72). 

71.  To  know  that  you  cannot  know  much  is  best,  but 
to  imagine  you  know  the  unknowable  is  disastrous.  Now 
if  you  shrink  from  what  is  disastrous  you  will  not  incur 
disaster  (44).  The  highest  form  of  man  does  not  incur 
this  form  of  disaster,  because  he  shrinks  from  the  disastrous 
(73),  and  for  this  reason  does  not  incur  such  disaster  (3, 

8,  9.   13.   22). 

72.  The  people  have  no  fear  of  the  ordinary  terrors  of 
the  law  (24),  the  supreme  question  of  life  and  death  being 
ever  before  them.  Therefore  do  not  confine  their  scope 
within  too  narrow  bounds  (80) ;  do  not  make  their  lives 
too  weary  (66).  If  you  do  not  weary  them  in  this  way, 
then  they  will  not  weary  of  you.  For  which  reason  the 
highest  form  of  man  knows  what  is  in  him  (7,  8,  33,  70), 
but  does  not  show  himself  off  (22,  24,  ^j) ;  respects  himself, 
but  does  not  place  a  value  on  himself  (13,  22,  24).  Hence 
he  ignores  the  latter  for  the  sake  of  the  former  in  each 
case  (12,  38). 

73.  He  who  is  eager  in  running  risks  gets  killed,  he 
who  is  eager  in  not  running  risks  survives  (71).  Of  these 
two  aims  i^f)  the  one  is  as  advantageous  as  the  other  is 
disadvantageous,  yet  both  may  be  equally  abhorred  of 
Heaven   (31).     Who   knows   the   why?     And    thus   it   is 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  299 

that  even  the  highest  form  of  man  finds  it  hard  to  choose 
between  them  (63).  The  Providence  of  Heaven  (9,  47,  79) 
never  strives  either  way,  yet  is  best  at  gaining  victory  (68) ; 
without  words  (56,  etc.),  is  best  at  securing  response  (38) ; 
without  summons,  is  best  at  attracting  comers  (10,  35); 
without  flurry,  is  best  at  forming  effective  schemes  (64). 
The  net  of  Heaven  is  spread  far  indeed ;  though  its 
meshes  be  large,  it  allows  none  to  slip  away  (34,  37). 

74.  As  the  people  do  not  fear  threats  of  death  (72,  75), 
so  what  is  the  use,  then,  in  trying  to  frighten  them  with  it  ? 
If  it  were  possible  to  keep  the  people  in  continual  fear  of 
dying  and  of  becoming  ghosts,  we  might  find  our  account 
in  arresting  and  killing  them.  But  who  would  dare?  (31J. 
There  are  always  proper  judicial  officers  charged  with 
executions  (29,  32),  and  for  us  to  undertake  executions 
on  behalf  of  the  executioners  would  be  like  our  hacking 
on  behalf  of  the  carpenter.  Now,  if  we  took  to  hacking  on 
behalf  of  the  carpenter,  there  are  \hi  or]  few  (14)  of  us  but 
would  maim  our  hands  (29). 

75.  The  people  are  hungry  on  account  of  the  amount  of 
taxation  consumed  by  their  superiors  ;  that  is  why  they 
hunger  (24,  53).  The  people  are  difficult  to  govern  on 
account  of  the  meddlesomeness  of  those  above  them  ;  that 
is  why  they  are  difficult  to  govern  (65).  The  people 
despise  death  (74)  because  they  are  so  desperately  anxious 
to  obtain  a  livelihood  ;  that  is  why  they  despise  death.  It 
is  those  who  place  no  value  on  their  own  lives  (16,  52) 
who  are  the  most  high-minded  (3,  JJ^  in  the  matter  of 
their  own  and  others'  lives. 

"j^.  Man  at  his  birth  is  soft  and  tender  (55)  ;  at  his 
death  he  has  become  hard  and  strong  (30).  Created 
objects  and  vegetation  at  their  birth  are  tender  and  crisp  ; 
at  their  death  they  are  like  wilt  and  hollowed  poles. 
Hence  the  firm  and  strong  belong  to  the  category  of  the 
waning  or  dead  ;  the  soft  and  tender  belong  to  the  category 
of  the  waxing  or  living  (50).  For  which  reason  a  power- 
ful army  is  not  necessarily  a  conquering  one  (30,  31,  d^), 
and  a  powerful  tree  bends  over  with  its  own  weight.     Thus 


300  THE   TAO-T^H    KING 

the  powerful   and   great   may  occupy  the  lower  {66),  the 
soft  and  tender  the  higher  position  (36,  78). 

yy.  Is  not  Heaven's  Providence  (9,  47,  73,  79)  rather 
like  drawing  a  bow?  If  too  high,  we  lower  it;  if  too  low, 
we  elevate  it.  If  it  is  too  much,  we  reduce  it  (42) ;  if  not 
enough,  add  to  it.  The  Providence  of  Heaven  is  to  take 
from  abundance  (20),  to  make  up  what  is  not  enough. 
The  Providence  of  Man  is  not  so  :  there  is  taken  from 
those  who  have  not  enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  (24,  53) 
those  who  have  superfluity.  Who  is  capable  of  possessing 
abundance  sufficient  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  whole 
world?  Only  those  who  really  possess  Providence  (24,  31, 
46).  For  which  reason  the  highest  form  of  man  takes 
action  without  self-conscious  assertion  (2,  51),  and  achieves 
results  (2,  9,  22,  34)  without  boasting.  How  unwilling  he 
is  to  show  off  his  "  high  character  "  !  (3,  75). 

78.  Of  the  soft  and  tender  things  in  the  world  nothing 
is  more  so  than  water  (8,  76),  but  for  attacking  the  firm 
and  strong  {y6)  nothing  can  surpass  it :  nothing  will  serve 
as  a  substitute  for  it.  How  the  weak  may  thus  overcome 
the  strong,  and  how  the  soft  may  thus  overcome  the  hard 
(36),  every  one  in  the  world  knows,  but  no  one  is  able  to 
do  it  himself  (70).  Hence,  as  the  highest  forms  of  man 
have  said^  (57):  "  He  who  takes  upon  himself  the  dirt  of 
the  State  may  be  styled  the  lord  of  its  tutelary  gods, 
whilst  he  who  takes  upon  himself  the  inauspiciousness  of 
the  State,  is  styled  the  King  or  Emperor  of  the  State" 
(57,  yy) :  true  words  which  seem  to  return  (40,  65) ! 

79.  Though  great  enmities  may  be  appeased  (63), 
there  is  bound  to  remain  some  vestige  of  ill-feeling.     How 

1  As  one  instance  out  of  many  hundred,  showing  how  Lao-tsz 
derived  his  ideas  from  extremely  ancient  books,  or  from  books  which 
equally  inspired  Confucius,  I  may  quote  the  following,  taken 
respectively  from  the  "Book  of  History"  {ends  with  B.C.  721),  and 
from  the  Amplification  by  his  pupil  of  Confucius'  own  History  {begins 
with  B.C.  784) :  "  The  Son  of  Heaven  acts  as  the  people's  father  and 
mother,  and  as  such  is  the  King  [or  Emperor]  of  the  World  [or 
Empire]."  And  again  :  "  That  the  Prince  of  a  State  should  hold  dirt 
in  his  mouth  is  the  Providence  of  Heaven." 


THE   TAOIST   CLASSIC  301 

is  it  possible  to  be  on  perfectly  good  terms  again  ?  Thus 
it  is  that  the  highest  form  of  man  keeps  a  loyal  hold 
upon  his  agreements,  but  makes  no  exacting  claim  ;  he 
who  possesses  Grace  takes  cognizance  of  the  spirit  of  the 
agreement ;  he  who  possesses  no  Grace  takes  cognizance 
only  of  the  tithes  due.  The  Providence  of  Heaven  {'jj, 
etc.)  has  no  personal  preferences  (56),  and  is  always  on 
the  side  of  the  good  man  (49,  6"]). 

80.  My  ideal  is  a  series  of  small  states  with  small 
populations.  Let  them  possess  an  army  machine  (29,  31, 
36,  41,  57,  6"]^  of  moderate  size,  but  not  be  too  ready  to 
use  it  (31,  6"],  70).  Let  them  place  a  proper  value  on 
their  lives  (75),  and  refrain  from  distant  migrations.  Then, 
though  they  will  be  possessed  of  boats  and  carts,  there 
will  be  no  one  to  ride  in  them  ;  though  they  will  be 
possessed  of  arms  and  cuirasses,  there  will  be  no  need  for 
arraying  them.  Let  the  people  revert  to  the  old  quipo 
system  of  records  (3,  37),  enjoy  their  food,  take  a  pride 
in  their  clothes,  dwell  in  peace,  and  rejoice  in  their  local 
customs  (72).  Each  state  would  be  within  easy  sight  of 
the  other ;  the  sound  of  each  other's  hens  cackling  and 
dogs  barking  would  be  heard  across.  The  people  of  each 
state  would  live  to  a  good  old  age,  and  would  have  no 
movement  of  intercourse  with  neighbouring  states. 

81.  True  words  are  apt  to  be  not  liked  ;  pleasant  words 
are  apt  to  be  untrue  (62).  Good  or  beneficent  men  (30) 
do  not  wrangle,  and  wranglers  are  apt  not  to  be  good  men 
(5,  23,  45).  Those  who  know  best  do  not  range  over 
many  subjects,  and  those  who  range  most  widely  do  not 
know  best  (56).  The  highest  form  of  man  cares  not  to 
accumulate  (3,  'J'j')  :  so  far  as  he  uses  his  resources  for 
others,  he  increases  his  own  store  ;  so  far  as  he  gives  them 
to  others  (8),  he  has  the  more  for  himself.  The  Providence 
of  Heaven  (9,  79,  etc.)  benefits  and  does  not  injure  (27, 
67) ;  the  Providence  of  the  highest  form  of  man  takes 
action  without  self-assertive  effort  (3,  8,  68,  73,  etc). 


INDEX 


Abbassides,  5,  142,  154 
Abdul  Ishtar,  155,  157 
Abdullah,  150,  167 
Abraham,  165,  169 
Abstinence,  81,  115 
Abu  Djafar,  142 
Achmat  (Polo's),  148 

,  of  Hami,  153 

Adam,  165,  169 

,  Nestorian,  126 

,  Presbyter,  127 

Adoration  of  Priests,  130 

x'Esculapius,  Chinese,  47 

Affghanistan,  157 

Afrangh,  175 

Africa,  152 

After  Life  (see  Life) 

Ainos,  the,  104 

Aisie,  the  Mussulman,  98,  149,  181 

Alan  Tartars,  181,  188,  232 

Albazin,  235,  243 

Albazins,  237,  240,  241,  243 

Alchemy,  100 

Alchuk,  159 

Alcock,  Sir  R.,  215,  220 

Alexander,  Borgia,  1 1 

,  Nevsky,  232 

,  the  Great,  69 

Allied  War,  214 

Almanacs,  149 

Aloha,  or  Elohim,  122 

Alopen,  the  Nestorian,  121,  122,  123, 

126 
Alphabet,  80,  132,  257 
Al  Roum,  175 
Alsatia,  104 
Altars,  258 
Ambrosius,  238 

American  missions,  211,  217,  227 
Amoy,  185,  190,  200 
Am-tu-la,  167,  170 
Amur  River,  233 
Ancestors,   18,  22,  61,  81,   106,   166, 

259 
Ancestral  shrine,  25,  259 


Ancestral   worships,    132,    162,   198, 

200,  234,  249 
Andijans,  157 
Andrea,  1S8 
Angamala,  See  of,  138 
Angkor,  ruins  of,  85 
Anglican  Church,  265 
Animal  instincts,  19 
Animosity,  religious,  6  (see  Nagging) 
Annam,  236 
Annamese,  the,  22 
Antonius,  238 

Apostolic  See,  198,  201  (see  Popes) 
Arab  conquests,  112,  115,  140 

language,  128 

Arabia,  153,  154 

Arabs,  5,  112,  140,  147,  163 

Aral,  Sea  of,  181 

Archbishops,  185,  187,  234 

Archimandrite,  135 

Archimandrites,    Russian,    184,   234, 

238,  244 
Archives,  51 
Ardishir,  King,  112 
Argon,  184  (see  Erkun) 
Arhan,  Buddhist,  169 
Ark  of  the  Covenant,  25 
Arkon    (see  Erkun),   176,    182,    184, 

185,  187,  232 
Armenia,  181 
Armenian  priests,  181 
Armenians,  185 
Artillery,  5,  149,  190,  193,  197 
Asamgha,  83 
Asceticism,  55 

Asia,  High,  74,  105  (see  Western) 
Assumption,  Church  of,  243 
Assyria,  29 

Astrology,  20,  35,  48,  69,   152,  18 1 
Astronomy,   115,  155,  194,  196,  234, 

261 
Asura  worship,  107 
Augustan  period,  28 
Augustus,  rulers  like,  35 
Austro-Hungary,  9 

30S 


304 


INDEX 


Author  of  Heaven,  no  (see  Creator) 

Avalokites'vara,  135 

Avars,  the,  94 

Avignon,  188 

Avus,  or  divus,  26 

Awakening  of  China,  225 

Ayulipalipatra,  Khan,  186,  233 

Babylonia,  i8i 

Babylonian  Jews,  122 

Babylonian  religions,  139 

Badaghis,  124 

Badakshan,  157 

Bagdad,  155,  183 

Baldwin,  Rev.  S.  J.,  220 

Balkh,  128 

Ballads,  28,  64  (see  "  Book  of  Odes") 

Balti,  State,  127 

Bamyan,  107 

Banner  of  the  Cross,  184 

Bannermen,  235 

Baptism,  122 

Barbarous  regions,  28 

Barcelona  Protestants,  9 

Bartholomew  of  Cremona,  181 

Basil  mission,  212,  221 

Batu  Khan,  231,  232 

Bear  worship,  104 

Beard,  the,  122 

Benevolence,  42,  53,  67,  255,  260 

Berlin  Ladies'  Mission,  221 

Bhamo,  215 

Bible,  the,  122,  210,  211 

Bilga  Khan  (Ouigour),  145 

(Turk),  131 

Bishops,  Catholic,  8,  137 

,  in  partibns,  204 

,  Protestant,  8,  173,  245 

Bishpalik,  151 

Black  Clothes,  142 

Black  Sea,  113 

Blue  Books,  216 

Board  of  Rites,  192,  196 

Bodhisattva,  134 

Bokhara,  157 

Bokhariots,  147 

Bombay,  5 

Bonzes,  Persian,  121,  123 

,  Western,  87,  130 

Books,  primitive,  49  (see  Texts) 

,  recovery  of,  74 

"Book  of  Changes,"  26,  34,   68,  80 

127,    166,    170,   248,    250,    258, 

260,  262 

" of  History,"  34,  68 

" of  Odes,"  34,  68 

" of  Rites,"  34,  167,  251 

Borasan,  107 
Borhan-uddin,  157,  160 
Bouvet,  Jesuit,  197 


"Boxers,"  158,  237,  241,  242 
Brahm,  141  (see  Fam  and  Brahman) 
Brahman  writing,  105,  126 
Brahmanism,  4,  77,  80,  83,  147 
Brahmans,  107 
Brandt,  von,  M.,  252 
Bretschneider,      Dr     (see     .List     of 

Authorities) 
Bridgman,  Dr,  211 
Britain,  Great,  4,  237,  238 
Brown,  Dr,  253 
Bryant,  missionary,  219 
Bryson,  missionary,  219 
Bucharia,  Little,  155,  157 
Buddha,  246 

,  birthplace,  81,  88 

,  family  of,  128 

,  hfe  of,  80,  239 

,  the  name,  74,  85 

Buddha's  bone,  135 

tooth,  108,  129 

Buddhism,  3,   38,  48,  108,  140,  147, 

171,  176,  183,  192,  242,  245 

and  Laocius,  89,  96,  107 

and  Manicheism,  113,  120 

in  Persia,  108 

,  Japanese,  247,  251,  253 

Buddhist  books  (see  sCltras),  109 

literature,  10,  12,  104,  239,  240 

missionaries,   12 

Buddhochinga,  87,  134 

Buddhomania,  71,  95,  124,  131,  135 

Bulls,  papal,  202 

Burdon,  Bishop,  214,  217,  223 

Burials,  102 

Burma,  83,  84,  158,  215 

Burning  the  dead,  105,  I  lo 

Burzug  Khan,  158 

Bushido,  75,  268 

Bussurman,  232 

Byzantine  Empire,  93,  109,  112,  175, 

181,  231 
history,  126 

Cabul  valley,  75,  82,  91,  105,  109, 

"3 

Csesars,  35 

Calendar,  149,  155,  197 

Caliphs,  146,  245 

Campichu,  Polo's,  144,  157,  183,  187 

Candlemas  Convent,  236 

Canon,  Taoist,  248  (see  Appendix) 

Canouge,  88 

Canton,  84,  142,  159,  189,  197,  211 

factory,  210 

Capitals,  Chinese,  116,  118 
Caravan  routes,  13 
Carlyle,  31 
Carmelites,  138 
Carmichael,  Dr,  211 


INDEX 


305 


Carpini,  180,  231 
Casartelli,  Mgr.  L.  C,  128 
Caspian  Sea,  113,  147 
Cassels,  Bishop,  227 
Cataneo,  Jesuit,  191 
Cathayans,  94,  144,  188 

in  Persia,  144,  146 

Cathedral,   CathoHc,    196,    198,  203, 

205,  206 

,  Russian,  245 

Catherine  I.,  236 
CathoHc  Missions,  203 

,  109,  232 

Celibacy,  128,  162 

Cemeteries,  Russian,  238,  243 

Ceremonies,  29,  43,  51,  64,  255 

Ceylon,  83 

Chaldaeans,  33,  59,  138 

Chalmers,  Dr,  221 

Ch'ang-an,  city,  no,  112,  118,  120, 

123,  161 
Chang  I.,  48 
Chang-teh  Fu,  86 
Changes,"  "  Book  of  (see  Book) 
Ch'ao-chou  Fu,  192 
Charles  VI.  (Germany),  234 
Chavannes,  M.,  94 
Chefoo,  217 

Cheh  Kiang,  province,  215,  218 
Ch'en  dynasty,  the,  70 
Chernigoff,  Michael,  232 
Chih  Li,  province,  159,  184 
China,  Divided,  70,  85,  89,  179 

,  Inland  Mission,  215,  226 

,  Old  Central,  22,  27,  34,  36,  67 

,  United,  70,  94 

China's  tolerance,  2,  6,  15,  151,  240 
Chinese  dress,  214,  215,  218 

,  the  primitive,  17 

virtues,  228 

Chinkiang,  79,    116,    137,    184,  216, 

225 
Chitral,  91,  106 
Chou,  Duke  of,  70,  78,  127 

dynasty,    early,     27,     29,    33, 

89,  165,  169 

dynasty,  later,  119 

Christ,  12,  193,  204,  264 

and  Mini,  118 

Christianity,  120,  135,  182,  187,  229, 
245,  264 

,  Early,  108 

Christmas,  124 

Chronology,  29,  165,  171 

Chu  Hi,  philosopher,  71,  95,  254 

Chu-hu-ti,  or  Jews,  176 

Chung-ni  (see  Confucius),  66 

Chung-yung,  the,  55,  170 

Church,  Catholic,  263  (see  Cathedral) 

Missionary  Society,  214,  227 


Church,  Russian,  7,  67  (see  Cathedral) 

Chu-u,  or  Jews,  151,  176 

Chu-wu  (see  Chu-u) 

Chwang-tsz,  47 

Ciampa,  85,  88 

Cibot,  Father,  173 

Cin-ghingiu,  Polo's,  184 

Cincius,  60  (see  Tseng-tsz) 

Circumcision,  174 

Clans,  29 

Classics,  33,  36,   74,    170,  212,   251, 

259 
Cloud -bright  Monasteries,  116 
Code  of  Law,  106 
Coffins,  102 
Coins,  evidence  of,  77 
Colleges,  149,  192,  227,  237 
Columbum,  Bishop  of,  137 
Commercial  Jealousy,  196 
Compass,  points  of  the,  22 
Conception,  the,  125 
Concubines,  130 
Confession,  13,  125 
Confucianism  in  Japan,  253 
Confucianists,  3,  125,  128,  l6l,   182, 

196 
Confucius,  28,  51,  104,  168,  239 

and  Lao-Tsz,  29,  45,  53,  59 

Confucius'  character,  31,  45,  54 

titles,  70 

village,  66,  70,  73 

works,  53,  68,  170 

Conquests,  Chinese,  74,  105 

,  Manchu,  5,  155,  234 

Conservatives,  3,  125,  196 
Constantinople,  230 
Consuls,  prancing,  216 
Continence,  43,  81,  115 
Convent,  Russian,  236 
Conveyance,  Greater,  83 

,  Lesser,  83 

Cophene,  77,  86,  88 

Council  of  Lyons,  180 

Court  life,  29,  37 

- — ,  royal,  29,  34,  53,  73,  235 

Corea,  85,  88,  94,  104,  225,  236,  242 

Corean  alphabet,  257 

funerals,  103 

generals,  142 

worship,  74,  103 

Correct  road,  the,  26 
Cosmical  theories,  14,  261 
Cossacks,  233 
Craft,  religious,  73,  82,  150 

,  toleration  of,  62 

Crafts,  P^our,  73 
Cranganore,  See  of,  138 
Creation,  the,  122,  169 
Creative  deities,  255 
Creator,  the,  65,  no 


U 


3o6 


INDEX 


Cremation,  no,  (see  Burning) 
Crimea,  233 

Cross,  the,  122,  184,  186 
Cruce  (see  Gaspard) 
Crucifixion,  the,  125 
Currents  of  migration,  78 
Czar,  the,  197 

Damascus,  141 

Damnation,  125 

Daniel,  240 

Danishmends,  176,  182,  185 

Darwin,  15 

Dawwan,  153 

Death,  60 

Degrees  of  kin,  21 

Deguignes,  93 

Delamarre,  Abbe,  205 

Democracy,  36 

Democratic  ideas,  2,  13 

Demon  worship,  107 

Denominationalists,  67 

"  Descent  of  Man,"  15 

Desht  Kipchak,  231 

Deveria,  M.,  146,  159,  167 

Devil  worship,  107 

Devils,  21 

Dhyana  philosophy,  83 

Diagrams,  58 

Dialects,  210,  212 

Diaz,  Jesuit,  194 

Didaco,  Jesuit,  191 

Diderot,  38 

Dioceses,  204 

Diplomatic  missions,  141,  146 

Diplomats,  early,  48 

,  later,  216,  240 

Divination,  58,  59,  104 
Divine  age,  256 

right,  65 

road,  34, 

Divus,  or  avus,  26 

Djabar  Khodjo,  180 

Djamba  Dvlpa,  131 

Djamal-uddin,  149,  195 

Dnieper,  River,  231 

Dogma,  23,  42 

Dogs  from  West,  no 

Dolonor,  150,  236 

Domenge,  Father,  173 

Dominicans,  7,  190,  196,  199 

Douglas,  Dr,  220 

Dowagers,   usurping,    124,    130,  204, 

259 
Dragon  city,  102 
Dreams,  18,  156 
Dual  Principles,  112,  114 
Dudgeon,  Dr.,  217 
Dungans,  150,  159 
Dynasties,  24,  259 


Earth,  27,  80 

,  Spirit  of,  24,  42,  262 

,  worship,  etc.,  no 

East  India  Company,  210 
Ecclesiastical  missions,  242 
Eclipses,  19 
Edkins,  Dr,  217 
Education,  57,  149 
Egrigaia,  204  (see  Ning-hia) 
Eitel,  Dr,  221 
Electors,  29,  35 
Elements,  Five,  20 
Eleuths,  155,  156 
Elia,  184 
Elias,  149,  184 
Elixirs,  48,  68 
Elkoen,  184  (see  Arkon) 
Elohim,  122 
Emasculation,  143 
Embassies,  Manchu,  234 

,  Russian,  235 

Emir-al-mumemin,  140 

Emperor,  the,  15,  n5,  130,  160,  196, 

201,  205,  234,  240 

of  Heaven,  28,  200 

Empresses,   64,   102,   109,   124,   152, 

197,  204,  226  (see  Dowager) 
Empire,  divided,  70,  85,  89,  179 

,  united,  70,  94 

England,  241  (see  Great  Britain) 

Ephraim,  185 

Eptals,  91,  106,  lo8,   113,  175 

Equinoxes,   21 

Erguiul,  76,  88 

Erkun,  176,  182,  184  (see  Arkon) 

Ernaculam,  137 

Esdras,  166,  169 

Esprit,  St,  203 

Eternal  life,  65 

Ethics,  83 

Eunuchs,  29,  124,  152,  194 

Euphrates,  River,  n3 

Europe,  4,  175 

European  intolerance,  6,  9,  154 

Evil  Spirit,  1 3 

Exogamy,  29 

Exposure  of  dead,  106 

Ezra,  175 

Faber,  Rev.  E.,  221 

Face-gashing,  109 

Faghfur,  22 

Fah-hien,  88,  91 

Faith,  23,  42 

Fam  (see  Brahman),  126 

Family  names,  29 

Famines,  224 

Far  East,  Primate  of,   185 

Faringhi,  142 

Fasting,  166,  170 


INDEX 


307 


Fatalism,  13 

Father  Ni,  66 

Favier,  Bishop,  206 

Fear  of  God,  65 

Feet,  squeezed,  215,  227 

Ferengi,  142,  175 

Festivals,  102,  105 

Feudalism,  29 

Fighting  States,  38 

Figuereido,  Father,  170,  172 

Filial    piety,     16,    24,    42,     52,    64, 

130 
Final  cause,  37 
Fire  Spirit,  106,  108 
Fire-worship,  108,  no,  112 
"First  Emperor,"  49,  68,  99 
Fischer,  Pastor,  263 
Five  capital  sins,  57 

Continents,  192 

Five  elements,  20 

Emperors,  24,  33,  36 

principles,  22,  168 

relationships,  168 

Folk-lore,  23,  84 
Foochow,  220 
Formosa,  216,  226 
Four  Crafts,  73 

seasons,  21,  56,  248 

France,  236  (see  French) 
Franciscans,  7,   183,    185,   189,    196, 

199 
Francus,  188  (see  Frank) 
Frankish  races,  174 
Franks,  4,  94,  181,  190 
French,  127,  190,  224,  24I 

intolerance,  8 

Revolution,  203 

Froude,  historian,  265 

Fuh  Kien,  185,  196,  199,  216 

Fuh-lang,  188 

Fuh-lang-ki,  189 

Fuh-lin,  109,  no,  112,  127,  141,  149, 

181 
Funerals,  64,  106,  I  ID 
Funeral  wakes,  103,  109 
Future  life,  43 
Fu  Yih,  128 

Gabet,  missionary,  204 

Gandhara,  83,  88 

Gaspard  a  Cruce,  190 

Gaubil,  Father,  173 

Gautama,  82 

Genghis   Khan,    96,   142,    147,    179, 

231,  239 
George  IV.,  210 
Genii,  21 
Geougen,  the,  92 
Gerard,  Monsieur,  205 
,  Mgr.,  185 


Gerbillon,  Jesuit,  197 
German  Empire,  221,  234 

missions,  212,  214,  263 

philosophy,  38 

war,  205 

Germans,  194 
Gervasius,  238 
Ghaznevides,  147 
Ghosts,  21 

Gibbon,  historian,  92 
Giorgis,  149 
Gladstone,  Mr,  84 
Glass-ware,  124 
Goa,  138 

Goble,  Rev.  J.,  251 
God,  a  jealous,  43 

,  a  personal,  264 

of  Earth,    27    (see  Earth,    and 

Spirit) 

,  names  for,  200 

,  the  One,   172 

Gods,  portable,  17,  25,  132,  232 

Golden  dynasty,  179 

Horde,  231,  233 

man,  75,  76,  86,  107 

mean,  170 

Good  works,  13,  126 

Government,  Laociuson,  41 

Gozani,  Father,  173 

Grace,  65 

Graves,  Dr,  221 

"Great   Virtue"    priests,     123,    127, 

130.  137,  179 
Greek  Christians,  181,  231 

Church,  231,  232 

dates,  128 

philosophy,  68 

rule,  77 

writers,  109,  III 

Guardian  of  the  Pass,  45 
Gunboat  policy,  216 
Guns  (see  Artillery) 
Gury,  Archimandrite,  239 
Gutchen,  i8o 
Gutzlaff,  Rev.  Carl,  211,  221 

Hadji,  150 

,  Mohammed,  161 

Haithon  of  Armenia,  181 
Hakka  Cantonese,  212 
Hala-hwei,  153 
Hami,  153,  156,  158 
Han  dynasty,  73,  169 

dynasty  (Later),  74,  85,  89,  128, 

169 

History,  192 

Wu-ti,  99 

YU,  135,  192 

Hananiechliah,  128 
Hananjesu,  128 


3o8 


INDEX 


Hangchow,  137,  172,  184,   191,  194, 

214 
Hankow,  219 
Happer,  Dr,  221 
Happy  mean,  55 
Harashar,  105 
Harbin,  159 
Harems,  29 

Harun-al-Rashid,  142,  144 
Hati  (see  Hadji),  150 
Hayshan,  Khan,  185 
Headquarters  of  religions,  176 
Head-shaving,  122,  133 
Heaven,  22,  27,  80,   103,   106,   in, 

141,  200,  259 

,  definitions  of,  168 

,  Son  of,  22,  24,  27 

,   Spirit  of,   24,    104,    108,    118, 

132,  140,  262 
Heavenly  bodies,  20,  34 
Heaven's  decrees,  255 
Hebrew  scrolls,  175 
Hegemony  system,  29,  35 
Hegira,  156,  160 
Hell,  162 

Hepburn,  Dr,  213,  252 
Hephthalites  (see  Eptals) 
Herat,  124,  153 
Hereditary  dynasties,  25,  36 
Heresies,  4,  113 

Herodotus,  102  (see  Duke  Chou) 
Hero-worship,  103 
Heterodoxy,  130 
Hien,  the  word,   106,   no,   n9,  132, 

137 
Hien-feng,  Emperor,  204 
Hierarchs,  Tibetan,  97 
High  Asia,  74,  88 
"High  Virtue"  priests,  123,  127 
Hilarion,  234,  236,  237 
Hill,  missionary,  219 
Hime,  or  princess,  250 
Hi-mi-ko,  250 
Hinayana,  83 
Hindoo  bonzes,  75,  no 

Koosh,  107 

names,  106 

Hirata,  256 

Historians,  35,  66,  143,  233,  250,  265 
History,  Japanese,  250,  253,  256 
,  tampering  with,   12,   143,   156, 

160,  171 
Hiung-nu,  77,  92,  102,  109,  n6,  132, 

175.  249 

Emperors,  86,  1 34 

Hobson,  Dr,  2n 
Holuh,  priest,  no 
Holy  Man,  248,  255,  260 

One,  122 

Synod,  242 


Home  Rule,  39 

Ho-nan  Fu,  35,  n8 

Ho  Nan  province,  150,  167,  213 

Hongkong,  175,  212 

,  Bishop  of,  173,  213 

Horse-riding  nomads,  132 
Horses,  Western,  186 
Hospitals,  181,  2n,  226 

,  Mussulman,  181 

Hostility,  religious,  2  (see  Nagging) 
Hu,  the  race,  81,  90,   106,   108,  no, 

n8,  122,  126 
Hu  Peh,  n6 

Hiian-chwang,  ni,  130,  156 
Hue,  Abbe,  204 
Human  sacrifices,  102 
Hungary,  243 
Huns  (see  Hiung-nu) 
Husbandry,  21,  39 
Huxley,  37 

Hwang-Lao,  48,  89,  91 
Hwang,Rev.  P.  (see  List  of  Authorities) 
Hwang-Ti,  47,  89 
Hwei-heh  (or  -huh),  145,  148,  160 
Hwei-hwei,  145,  156,  173 
Hyacinth,  Father,  239 

Iadrintseff,  Mr,  n5 

"  Ian  Maclaren,"  267 

Ich'ang,  225 

Idikut,  princes,  151 

Idolatry,  82,  92,  98 

Hi,  155,  187,  241 

Ilinchin,  97 

Images,  82,  86,  99,  107,  123,  136,  234 

Imams,  162 

Immortality,  66,  99 

Imperial  succession,  22 

Incarnation,  the,  122,  192 

Incense,  124 

India,   46,   77,   79,  86,  91,  94,  n3, 

127,  130,  137,  166,  169,  201 
"Indian,"  the  word,  ni,   131,  166, _^ 

169 
Indian  Christians  (see  Malabar) 
Indica,  in 

Indo-China  (see  Annam  andTonquin) 
Indo-Scythia,  74,  79,  88,  91,  n  3 
Indus,  River,  91,  105 
Influences,  religious,  77 
Inland  Mission,  216  (see  China) 
Innocent,  Rev.  J.,  217 
Innocentius,  243 
Inscriptions,  118,  161 

,  Arab,  160 

,  Jewish,  12,  165 

,  Nestorian,  12 

,  Syrian,  127 

,  Turkish,  141,  160 

Instincts,  19 


INDEX 


309 


Interpreters,  152 

Intrigue,  7 

Invocations,  258 

Irrawaddy  Valley,  84 

Isaac,  169 

Isaiah,  149 

Ise  temples,  252 

Ishtikhan,  107 

Islam,  94,  107,  139,  182,  245 

Ismail,  154 

Ismailoff,  235 

Israel,  165,  168 

Issyk-kul,  III 

I-sz,  124 

Italy,  King  of,  9 

Ito,  Marquess,  245 

Jabezbujid,  128 

Jacob,  169 

Jacques  de  florence,  188 

Jaganyan,  country,  115 

Japan',   16,  34,  75,  88,  95,  190,  229, 

236 
Japanese,  104,  247-270 
,  Early,  ignorance  of,  249,  258, 

261 

Orthodox  Church,  244 

scholarship,  127 

war,  226 

worship,  74,  250 

Java,  88 

missions,  211 

Jaxartes,  77 

Jealous  God,  43 

Jehan,  Khodjo,  160 

Jehangir,  157 

Jehovah,  12 

Jenuyeh,  princes,  102 

Jeremiah,  31 

Jesuits,  7,   100,    127,   155,   172,   197, 

200,  213,  234,  237 
Jesus,  Society  of,  7,  202 
Jewel  Emperor,  168 
Jews,  12,  151,  164,  179,  213 

,  Babylonian,  122 

,  Persian,  172,  176 

Jimmu,  Mikado,  253,  255,  260 

Joachim,  238 

John,  Griffith,  219,  223 

Johnson,  Dr,  20 

Jordanus,  Bishop,  137 

Joshua,  169 

Joujan  race,  92,  105,  109 

Judsea,  13,  192,  245 

Judaism,  256  (see  Jews) 

,  reformed,  13,  56 

Judgment,  162 

Jujitsu,  73 

Justice,  42,  67,  255,  260 


Kaaba,  141 

Kadlslya,  141 

Kadphises,  76 

Kafirs,  173 

K'ai-feng  Fu,  12,  167,  169,  195 

Kalgan,  218 

Kam  (or  Kan)  Chou,  144,  187 

Kamidana,  258 

Kami-no-michi,  254,  269 

Kan  Suh  Mussulmans,  154,  163 

province,  5,  154,  174 

K'ang,  country,  141 

K'ang-hi,  7,  155,  170,  197,  200,  201, 

236,  238 
Kapi9a,  91,  ill 
Kapilavastu,  76,  80,  82 
Kara-balgassun,  115 
Karakoram,  181,  231,  232 
Karluks,  the,  153 

Kashgar,  88,  107,  III,  155,  157,  183 
Kashgaria,  5 
Kashmir,  88,  107,  127 
Kashmirian  Buddhists,  180,  183 
Kas'yapa  Matanga,  75 
Kayuk  Khan,  97,  181,  231 
Kazan,  233 

Keraits,  tribe,  147,  187 
Kerr,  Dr  John,  211,  221 
Kewkiang,  219 

Khagan,  102,  106,  III,  117,  US 
Khalid,  general,  141 
Khan,  93  (see  Khagan) 
Khanbalig,  185 
Khans,  the  Grand,  231 
Kharoshthi,  90 
Khodjo  brothers,  157,  160 

,  Djabar,  180 

,  Jehan,  160 

Khorasan,  175 

Khosroii,  King,  ili,  114 

Khoten,  10,  46,  75,  81,  83,  86,  88, 

107,  in,  119,  155 
Khouya,  or  "brother,"  146 
Kiang  Nan,  207 
Kiang  Si,  207  (see  Nan-ch'ang) 
Kiang  Su,  218 
Kiao  Chou,  88 
K'ien-lung,  100,  134,  145,  156,  177, 

203,  238,  240 
Kiev,  231 

Kih-lieh,  priest,  124.  127 
"  King,'"  teaching,  125 
King,  title  of,  27 
King-chou,  city,  116 
King-tsing,  scribe,  125,  126 
Kinship  through  mother,  103 
Kipchaks,  231 
Kirghiz,  118 
Kirin,  159 
Kitans  (see  Cathayans) 


3IO 


INDEX 


Kobad,  114 

Kobadhiyan,  115 

Kojiki,  history,  253,  257 

Kokonor,  157 

Koran,  156,  157,  162 

Kotow,  the,  141 

K'ou  K'ien-chi,  90 

Kruger,  President,  15 

Ku  Ilwan,  statesman,  88 

Kublai  Khan,   5,    10,  97,    148,   167, 

181,  185,  195 
Kuche,  state,  88,  107,  155 
K'uh-fu,  28 
Kumaradjiva,  87,  134 
Kumdan  city,  128 
Kumiss,  114 
Kunduz,  108 
Kung,  Prince,  221 
K'ung  (see  Confucius),  71 
Kung-teh,  the  term,  126,  135 
Kwang,  provinces,  191,  212 
Kwei,  spirits,  21,  250 

Ladies,  missionary,  215,  218,  221 
Lama  Miao,  150,  236 
Lamas,  236,  245 
Lao-tan,  248  (see  Lao-tsz) 
Lao-tsz,  or  Laocius,  31,  35,  53 

,  his  doctrine,  30,  262 

,  traditions,  10,  81,  107 

Larvae  spirits,  250 
Law,  Mussulman,  150 

,  Scroll  of,  175 

Laws,  Heaven's  36 

,  Laocius  on,  43 

Lay  Chinese,  6 
Lazare,  St,  203 
Lazarists,  203 
Learning,  42,  62 
Lechler,  missionary,  221 
Lees,  Rev.  Jonathan,  217 
Legate,  Papal,  200 
Legations,  Peking,  236,  242 
Legendary  period,  24 
Legge,  Dr.,  59,  88,  212 
Legists,  67 
Leontyeff,  239 

,  Vassily,  234 

Levi,  167 
Lhasa,  47,  204 
Li  Hung-chang,  225 
Liang  Chou,  77,  88 

dynasty,  70,  91,  131 

Emperor,  99,  134 

Libations,  103 

Libermann,  Mr,  174 

Library,  Mukden,  243 

— — ,  Peking,  243 

Licences,  clerical,  134,  180,  201 

Licius,  or  Lieh-tsz,  46 


Life,  everlasting,  125 

•  future,  23,  59,  56,  60,  69 

,  human,  42 

,  mystery  of,  14 

,  origin  of,  14 

Li-pai,  the  word,  160,  166 
Literature,  ancient,  30,  33 

,  destruction  of,  33,  48,  68 

,  Japanese,  248 

,  Mussulman,  161,  171 

,  Russian,  239 

Little,  Mrs  A.,  227 
Liturgy,  Shinto,  255 
Lockhart,  Dr,  21 1 
Longobardi,  Jesuit,  192,  199 
London  Mission,  210,  212 
Loochoo,  236,  237,  242 
Lop  Nor,  75,  83,  88 
Lord  Bishop,  title  of,  8 
Lord,  Dr,  219 
Lords,  29,  39 

,  House  of,  8 

Louis  IX.,  181 

XIV.,  197,  236 

XV.,  134 

XVIII.,  203 

Philippe,  204 

Love  of  God,  69 
Low,  U.S.  Minister,  223 
Lu,  State  of,  28,  51 
Lutherans,  265 
Lyons,  Council  of,  180 

Ma  T'ang,  eunuch,  194 

Macao,     190,    193,    201,    204,    210, 

211 
Macartney,  Lord,  210 
Macgowan,  Dr  J.,  220 
Magadha,  85 
Magi,  13,  no,  112,  119 
Magupatan,  112,  119 
Mahayana,  83 
Mahes'vara,  118 
Mahmud  (Turkestan),  155,  157 

(Canton),  159 

Ma-ho-ma-tan-ti,  186 
Maigrot,  Bishop,  200 
Mailed  fists,  41 
Malabar  Christians,  137 

rites,  137,  198 

Malacca,  189 

Malay  states,  152 

Male  and  Female,  255  (See  Yin  and 

Yang) 
Man,  15,  27,  80,  249 
Manchu  conquests,  5,  155,  234 
dynasty,  71,  154,  165,  170,  196 

209,  233 

funerals,  103 

nation,  235 


INDEX 


311 


Manchuria,  95,   158,   184,    189,   204, 

244 
Manchus,  193,  239 
Mandarin  dialects,  210 

missionaries,  8,  206,  222 

Manes,  24,  103,  250 

Mangu  Khan,  10,  97,  180,  187 

Mani,  112,  126,  145 

Manicheans  112,  118,  121,  134,  142 

168,  179,  192,  235,  258 
Manicheism,  4,  94,  113,  126,  133 
Manila,  196 
Manzi,  179 
Mar  Elia,  184 

Nestorius,  184 

Sarghiz,  137,  184 

Thoma  Sliha,  137 

Marco    Polo,    76,  79,  98,    147,    184, 

189,  240 
Marcus  Aurelius,  42 
Mares'  milk,  114 
Marriage  laws,  29,  102,  159 
Marriages,  diplomatic,  117,  134,  146, 

232 
Martin,  Rev.  W.  A.  P.,  173,  217 
Martini,  Father,  170,  199 
Mathematicians,  191 
Ma-t'ou,  village,  244 

Maxwell,  missionary,  220 

Maya,  76 

Mazdeans,  5,    13,  69,  94,   109,    113, 
118,  128,  137,  142 

Mazdek,  109,  114 

Mean,  the,  55  (see  Golden) 

Mecca,  158 

"  Mecca  of  Japan,"  252 

Meccius,  or  Meh-tsz,  67 

Medhurst,  Dr,  211 

,  Sir  Walter,  216 

Mediator,  56 

Medicine,  48,  69,  114,  149,  l8l 

Medina,  141,  159 

"  Memoires  Historiques  "  (see  List  of 
Authorities) 

Menam  Valley,  94 

Mencius,  or  Meng-tsz,  55,  60 

Mesne-lords,  39 

Messiah,  3,  122,  126,  131 

Metaphysics,  26,  57,  83 

Metropolitans,  184 

Mezzobarba,  201 

Michael  Chernigoff,  232 

Michi,  or  way,  261 

Migrations,  78 

Mikado,  22,  245,  250,  256,  262,  269 

Milis  of  Balkh,  128 

Militant  religions,  241 

Military  caste,  62 

honour,  268 

service,  92 


Mills,  Rev.  D.  J.,  174 
Milne,  Dr,  210 

Ming  dynasty,  71,  99,  152,  155,  161, 
165,  167,  168,  189,  195 

Emperor,  195 

Miracles,  82,  264 
Mi-  shih-a  (see  Messiah),  122,  182 
Mi-shi-ho  (see  Mi-sh'ih-a) 
Mission,  Arab,  141,  146 
Missionaries,  206,  214,  226,  240 

,  lady,  215,  218 

Missions  (see  Embassies),  236 

Etrangeres,  172,  200,  207 

,  Roman,  206 

Mogh,  119  (see  Magi) 
Mohammed,  141,  154,  156,  159 
Mohammedans,  239  (see  Islam) 
MoUahs,  or  mullas,    145,    162,    167, 

183 
Monasteries,  79,    92,   97,    1 18,    122, 

124,  133,  134,  136 
Mongol  dynasty,  71,  95.  99.  '44.  148, 
161,   176,   188,    231,   233,    23s, 
269 

people,  84,   102,  147,  175,  197, 

242 

rulers,  97,  155 

Mongolia,  204,  233 
Monism,  38 

Monk,  Taoist,  180,  239 
Monotheism,  59 
Montecorvino,  185 
Moody,  the  revivalist,  267 
Moon  worship,  102,  iii 
Moral  code,  252,  263 
Morales,  J.  B.,  199 
Morao,  John,  201 
Mori    Mr,  253 
Morrison,  Robert,  210 
Moses,  165,  170,  267 
Moslems,  165  (see  Mussulmans) 
Mosques,  140,  145,  159,  160,  173 
Mothers,  103 
Motowori,  254,  258 
Moule,  Bishop,  219 
Mouly,  Bishop,  205 
Mourning,  29,  64,  106,  109 
Mudja,  priests,  115,  116 
Muh-hu,  or  moh-hu,  no,  137 
Muirhead,  Rev.  W.,  218,  224 
Mukden,  184,  243 
Mulla  (see  Mollah) 
Museums,  175 
Music,  22,  27,  63,  67,  168 
Musu-aiman,  149,  151,  232 
"  Mussulman,"  the  name,   144,   148, 
152 

authors,  161 

conquests,  5 

king,  145 


312 


INDEX 


Mussulmans,  5,  71,  94)  168,  187,  192, 
232 

,  Canton,  159,  163 

,  Chinese,  154,  158 

,  Manchurian,  159 

,  rival,  157 

,  reformed,  157 

,  States  of  the,  147,  153,  154 

Mutilation,  150 

,  self,  92 

Mutsuhito,  Mikado,  259 
Mwan-la  (see  Mollah),  167,  171 
Mysore,  bishopric,  137 

Nagardjuna,  83 
Nagging,  missionary,  227,  240,  265 
Nama,  180 
Names,  family,  29 
Nan-ch'ang,  116,  192,  225 
Nanking,    159,    l6l,    191,  201,   204, 
225,  259 

dynasties,  85,  89,  91,  105 

treaty,  203,  212 

Nan-kwan,  235,  242,  243 
Nan-shan,  270 
Napoleon,  73 

National  I3ib]e  Society,  218 
Nature  of  man,  57 

worship,    13,  23,    34,    54>    59. 

103,  231,  249 

Navy,  Chinese,  225 

Nayen,  184 

Nepaul,  81,  131 

Nestorian   stone,  134,    I73>  ^93  (see 
Stone) 

Nestorians,  4,  12,  109,  121,  166,  168, 
179,  181,  192,  232,  235 

Nestorius,  Mar,  184 

Netherland's  mission,  211 

Nevius,  Dr,  214 

Ngai,  Mr,  172 

Ni,  Father,  66  (see  Chung-ni) 

Nicholai,  Bishop,  244 

Nicholas,  Archbishop,  187,  189 

,  Archimandrite,  238 

,  St,  Church  of,  235,  243 

Nie-ku-lun,  189 

Nihongi,  history,  257,  260 

Nine  Virtues,  24 
,  Ning-hia  (see  Egrigaia) 
'  Ningpo,  116,  168,  190,  215,  219 

Nirvana,  81,  83 

Sutra,  92 

Niuru,  235 

Noah,  169 

Nogi,  General,  40 

Nomads,  102,  132 

Norito,  ritual,  258 

North  China,  89,  105,  231 

Noyes,  missionary,  221 


Nlichen  Tartars,  95,  144,  179,  188 
Nuns,  82,  90,  93,  119,  129,  136 
,  French,  221 

Observatories,  149 

Odes,  28 

Odium  theologicum,  6,  15 

Odoric,  Friar,  186 

Ogdai,  Khan,  97,  180 

Okinaga  Tarashi,  250 

Oliphant,  Laurence,  253 

One  God,  172 

Opium,  211 

Oracles,  58 

Original  texts,  3 

Orkhon  River,  115,  132,  146 

Oross,  231  (see  Russia) 

Orthodox  China,  81,  96 

England,  265 

Russia,  96,  256,  265 

Orthodoxy,  converts  to,  244 

Othman,  Caliph,  140 

Otrar,  145,  147 

Ouigours,    71,    116,    119,    124,    131, 

144,  161,  175,  195 
and  Islam,    71,    142,    146,    148, 

152,  163 
Ouranology,  popular,  166 
Ourobba,  or  Europe,  175 
"  Outer  roads,"  113 
Oxus  region,   74,  78,    105,   113,   115, 

120,  141,  171 

Pacific  Ocean,  105 

Pagans,  11,  159,  174 

Pagodas,  133  (see  Buddha),  159 

Pagspa,  97 

Palace  guards,  233,  235 

Pali  script,  90 

Palladius,  184,  239 

Pan-Germanism,  256 

P'an-Ku,  166,  170 

Parkes,  Sir  Harry,  252,  256 

Panthays,  158 

Pantoja,  Jesuit,  192 

Paraclete,  the,  121 

Paradise,  162 

Paramila,  134 

Parchment,  108 

Parents,  position  of,  130 

Parheparambil,  Bishop,  137 

Pariah  class,  106 

Parsees,  5 

Parthia,  13,  77,  79 

Pascal  de  Vittoria,  187 

Pasio,  Jesuit,  191 

Pass,  Guardian  of,  10,  45 

Passion,  the,  125 

Patna,  85 

Patriarchal  system,  20 


INDEX 


313 


Patriarchs,  Nestorian,  128,  183 

,  Tibetan,  150 

Patronymics,  86 

Paul  Sti,  192,  194 

Peh-Kwan,  242 

Pehlvi,  language,  128 

Peking,  99,   145,  149.  160,  172,  184, 

190,  194,  216,  232,  235 
Peregrin,  Bishop,  186 
Perfumes,  1 14 
Persecutions,   6,   7,   74,   86,   88,  93, 

109,118,  134,  154,  179,  188,  193, 

202,  205,  225 
Persia,  4,  12,  108,  165,  193,  231 
Persian  influence,  29,  147,  175 

religions,  59,  102,  ill,  139 

temples,  112,  119 

traders,  117,  142 

wars,  109,  113 

Peshawur,  88,  91 

Peter,  Archimandrite,  239 

the  Great,  96,  234,  241,  245 

Petersburg,  St,  234 
Philosophers,  Chinese,  li,  60 
Philosophy,  Chinese,  154,  260 

,  Plato's,  1 1 

Phraseology,  religious,  121,  125 

Physicians,  181  (see  Medicine) 

P'ieh-li-ma,  185 

Pien,  169 

Pien-liang,  167 

Pien-ts'ioh,  47 

"  Pigtails,"  210 

Pilgrimages,  III,  15S 

Pi-mi-hu,  250 

Piruz,  112,  140 

Pius  (see  Pope) 

Plato's  philosophy,  1 1 

Pobyedonoschtschoft',  Mr,  265 

Political   religion,   3,   9,    29,  48,   96, 

134, 229, 241,  245,  252,  256,  262, 

265 
Polyandry,  108 
Pok-lo,  212 
Polycarpus,  239 
Pope  Pius  X.,  49,  137 
Popes  (various),   11,    100,    138,   184, 

185,  187,  189,  199,  245 
"  Popes,"  Taoist,  79,  90 
Pork  eating,  159 
Port  Arthur,  270 
Portable  gods,  132  (see  Gods) 
Portugal,  9 

Portuguese,  99,  189,  196,  201 
Posthumous  titles,  29 
Po-to-li,  128 
Potune,  159 

Powers,  the  Chinese,  35 
Prabha-Karamitra,  no,  ill 
Prajna,  126 


Prato,  William  de,  189 

Prayer,  42,  60,  66,  150,  170,  183 

Predestination,  l6r 

Press,  the,  226,  248 

Prester  John,  147,  187 

Preston,  missionary,  221 

Priestly  corruption,  3,  5,  131,  162 

Primate  of  the  Far  East,  185 

Primitive  man,  18 

religion,  267 

Princes,  royal,  29,  117 
Princesses,  Chinese,  117,  146 
Principles,  Three,  27,  37 
Procurator  of  the  Synod,  265 
Propaganda,  199 
Prophet,  the,  155,  x6i 
Propriety,  260  (see  Ceremony) 
Proselytism,  161,  216,  241,  244 
Protestants,  7,  9,  206,  209,  263 

in  Spain,  9 

Punjaub,  the,  141 
Punti  Cantonese,  212 
Purification,  123,  166,  170 

,  Church  of,  236,  242 

Puthenpally,  137 

QuiLON,  137,  149,  184,  198 

Rab,  or  rabbi,  167,  174,  186 

Rain,  prayers  for  (see  Prayers) 

Ramadan,  153 

Rangoon,  158 

Kaux,  Bishop,  203 

Recluse,  Taoist,  180 

Red-caps,  161 

Redemption,  the,  122 

Reid,  missionary,  218 

Religion,  China's  choice  of,  180,  228 

,  European  ideas  of,  31,  42,  56, 

59,  69 

,  Primitive,  i,  29,  248,  252 

,  Russia's  choice  of,  231 

,  Tartar,  102 

Repentance,  13 

Resurrection,  the,  125,  162,  192 
Revelation,  264 
Reverend,  the  title,  127 
Revivalists,  48,  267 
Revolution,  Chinese,  73 

,  French,  203 

Rewards  and  Punishments,  3,  13,  58, 

66 
Rhenish  mission,  212,  221 
Rho,  James,  194 
Ricci,  Matthew,  172,  191,  199 
Richard,  Rev.  T.,  225 
Rintchen,  97 
Riots,  225 

Ritchie,  missionary,  220 
Rites,  67,  198,  234,  262 


3H 


INDEX 


Rites,  Board  of,  192 
Ritual,  Jewish,  175 

,  Russian,  236 

,  Shinto,  258 

,  Syriac,  138,  182 

,  Tibetan,  236 

Roman  Emperors,  35 

Empire,  84 

Rome,  109 

,  Church  of,  178,  188,  206,  265 

Roque,  de  la,  194 
Ross  (see  Russia),  230 
Roum,  Al,  175 
Rouz  Nameh,  177 
Rubruquis,  181,  232 
Ruggieri,  Jesuit,  191 
Rule,  hereditary,  26 
Rulers,  wicked,  26,  62 
Russia,  189,  197,  231 
Russian  Church,  4,  67,  241 

persecution,  8 

priests,  181,  232,  237 

treaties,  236 

Saad  Wakkas,  159 
Saba,  no 
Sabaean  religion,  59 
Sabbath,  166 
Sacae,  77,  82 
Sacasthene,  77 
Sacchiou,  Polo's,  183 
Sacraments,  125 

Sacrifices,  13,  21,  24,  28,  42,  61,  73, 
76,  102,  107,  no,  132,  170 

,  degrees  of,  21,  29 

,  human,  102 

Saddharma,  87 

Pundarika,  80 

Sadler,  Rev.  J.,  220 
Sak  (see  Sacae) 
S'akya,  82,  118,  168 
S'akyamuni,  82,  168 
"Salar"  Mussulmans,  158 
Salvation,  69,  82,  83 

Army,  12 

,  licences,  134,  180 

,  word  for,  120 

Samanides,  147 

Samarcand,  106,  in,  141,   145,   153, 

^175,  180,  183,  184 
Samgha,  85,  86,  121 
Samsak,  157 
Samurai,  269 
Sancius,  47,  90 
Sansing,  159 
Sanskrit,  126,  162,  259 
Sa-pao  (see  Saba),  1 10 
Saracens,  147 
Sarai,  231,  233 
Sartach,  Khan,  181 


Sassanides,  108,  159 

Satan,  122 

Satow,  Sir  E.,  252,  253,  256,  259 

Saviour,  13 

Sawa  Vladislavitch,  236,  238 

Scandinavians,  226 

Scarborough,  missionary,  219 

Schall,  Adam,  155,  194,  196 

Schereschewsky,  Bishop,  217 

Schisms,  3,  94 

Schools,  60,  67,  149 

,  Philosophical,  67 

Science,  14,  263 
Scottish  Missions,  218 
Script  (see  Writing) 
Scripture,  123,  165,  169 
Scrolls  of  Law,  175 
Scythians,  77,  82,  102 
Sea  routes  (?ee  Trade) 

trade,  152  (see  Trade) 

Seasons,  Four,  56,  248 
See,  Apostolic,  198,  201 
Sees,  in  parlibus,  204 

,  regular,  204 

Segin,  iSi 
Seistan,  77 
Seldjuks,  147 

Seminaries,  192  (see  Colleges) 
Seng,  or  samgha,  86,  121 
Sepulchres,  Japanese,  255 
Seventh  day,  166 
Sha  Chou,  183 
Shab-uddin,  150 
Shakespeare,  1 1 
Shamans  (see  Sabtean) 
Shan  race,  84,  85 

Si,  n8,  133,  157,  184,  224 

Tung,  52,  88 

Shanghai,  175,  212,  218 

Shang  Tu,  150,  185 

Shao-hing,  215 

Shaving  the  head,  122,  133 

Shen  K'ioh,  193,  194 

Shen  Si,  27,  29,  30,  118 

Shen  spirits,  21,  250 

Shen-tao  (see  Shinto) 

Shih  (Tashkend),  141 

Shiites,  161 

Shi-ki,  history, 

Shinto,  9,  II,  16,  34,  75,  247-270 

Shiroe,  King,  in 

Shiu-hing,  191 

Shrines,  252 

Shuh  (see  Craft),  150 

Shuh-hu  (see  Jews),  151,  176,  187 

Shun,  Emperor,  4 

Siam,  211 

,  Early,  84,  95 

Si-an  Fu,  12,  88,  93,  no,  112,  128, 
161,  173,  181,  194 


INDEX 


315 


Siberia,  234,  244 
Si-king,  181 
Simple  life,  43 
Sin,  3,  24,  43 
Sinai,  Mount,  165 
Sinestan,  128 

Sinew-plucking,  6,  167,  173 
Si-ngan  (see  Si-an  Fu) 
Si-ning,  157 

Sinology,  217,  221,  243,  252 
Sira  Ordo,  181,  231 
Sivaism,  77,  83,  105,  107 
Six  salvations,  134 
Skulls  for  beakers,  102 
Slaughtering  meat,  159 
Slaves,  102,  122,  136 
Smith,  Bishop,  173,  213 

,  Dr  Porter,  219 

Sobriety,  43,  54 

Socialism,  67 

Soerius,  Jesuit,  192 

Solstices,  21 

Son  of  Heaven,  22,  27,  56,  87 

Soothsayers,  109,  no 

Sophronius,  238 

Soshyant,  or  Saviour,  13 

Souls,  81,  83 

South  China,  105  (see  Nanking),  117 

Sovereign,  duties  of,  21 

Spain,  9,  154 

Spanish  intolerance,  9,  199 

Spencer,  Herbert,  37 

Spirits,  21,  III,  250 

,  Evil,   13 

of  Heaven  and  Earth,  24,  42, 

103,  262 

Spiritual  road,  248  (see  Shinto) 

S'ramana,  92,  134 

S'ramanera,  13 1,  180 

S'ravasti,  88 

Stage-posts,  183 

Statistics,  missionary,  198,  206,  214, 

217,  223,  226 
Staunton,  Sir  G.,  210 
Stevenson,  Rev.  J.  W.,  215 
Stone,  Nestorian,  122,  134,  142 

records,    141,    143,    145,     160, 

165,  174 

Stronach,  Rev.  John,  213 
Students,  Russian,  237 
Sli  Kwang-k'i,  192 
Su  Ts'in,  48 
Submission,  58 
Succiur,  183 
S'uddh6dana,  76 
Suh  Chou,  183 
Sui  dynasty,  70,  93 
Su-lu-ch'i  (see  Zoroaster),  no 
Sun  worship,  102,  109 
Sunday,  Chinese  (see  Li-pai) 


Sung  dynasty,  great,  94,  99,  ng,  144, 
161,  165,  166,  179,  188 

,  Nanking,  70,  89,  91,   133 

Yun,  91,  106,  109 

Sunnites,  161 

Suovetaurilia,  73 

Superstitions,  23,  84 

Supreme  Emperor  of  Heaven,  28 

Sutras,  75,  79,  85,  91,  123,  134,  152 

Swat,  87 

Swatow,  135,  192,  220 

Synagogues,  165,  174 

Synod,  Russian,  242,  245 

Syria,  4,  12,  113,  127,  137,  181 

Syriac,  151 

Syrian  language,  127 

ritual,  138,  182 

Sz,  or  temple,  160 

Sz-ch'wan,  87 

Sz  Ma-ts'ien  (see  List  of  Authorities) 

Tabar'i,  author,  115 

Tablet,  Nestorian  172,  (see  Stone) 

Tablets  of  worship,  25,  167 

,  (see  Stone) 

Tabu  of  personal  names,  102 

Tah-so  (see  Tarsa),  125,  126 

Tai  race,  84 

T'ai-p'ing   rebellion,   161,    174,  204, 

214,  259 
T'ai-yiian  Fu,  n8,  130,  133,  160 
Talas,  battle  of,  142 
Tamalipti,  88 
Tamerlane,  153,  233 
Tamlook,  88, 
T'ang  dynasty,  94,99,  119,  121,  126, 

143,  156,  170,  179,  195,235,258 
T'ang,  Emperor,  130,  156 
Tangut  kingdom,  143,  183 
Tantra    worship,    83,  97,    129,    236, 

245 
Tao,  the  word,  12,  26,  44,  121,    165, 

168,  248 
Taoism,    10,    32,    79,   97,    128,    161, 

182,  192,  240,  254 
,    degenerate,    10,    48,   79,    82, 

100,  129,  168,  201 
,    pure,     10,     30,    46,    82,    96, 

100,  251  (see  also  Appendix) 
Taoist   classic,  n,  38,  45,  98,  127, 

248,  259  (see  Appendix) 

,  writers,  46,  180 

Tao-teh  (King),  127  (see  Appendix) 
Tapestry,  124 
T'apur,  Khan,  132,  134 
Tardu,  Khan,  ni 
Tarim  valley,  74,  83 
Tarsa  (Christians),  127 
Tartar  Khanships,  233 
I   rulers,  71,  S7,  179 


3i6 


INDEX 


Tartars,  22,  27,  76,  85,  108,  195 

,  influence  of,  29,  130 

,  religions  of,  3,    59,    74,     109, 

132,  232 
Tartary,  46, 
Tashkend,  141 
Tashkurgan,  88 
Ta-ts'in,    no,    112,    119,    122,    137, 

166,  181,  192 
Taylor  Mission,  215,  218 
Taxation,  5,  29,  176,  183,  232 
Taxila,  87,  88, 
Tazih  (see  Arabs),  140,  147 
Tchakuka,  83 
Teh-sih,  spirit,  107 
Temples,   66,    no,    117,    133,    161, 

243 

of  the  Cross,  186 

Tengri  Kudu,  22 

Tenshi-sama,  22 

Tents,  position  of,  109 

Terminus,  Roman,  25 

Tersa,  or  Terzai,  107,  127,    180,  232 

Tesh,  the  Blind,  115 

Testament,  New,  122 

,  Old,  122 

Texts,  common,  258,  259 

,  original,  258 

Thank-offerings,  103 
Thomas,  St,  137 
Three  dynasties,  33,  269 

principles,  27,  37 

religions,  168 

Tibet,  47,    85,    99,    143,    228,    231, 

245 
Tibetan  "emperors,"  88,  134 

tribes,  27,  89 

Tibetans,  5,  22,  84,  89,  108 

,  invading,  116 

Tieh-sieh  (see  Tersa),  180,  182 
Tientsin  Treaty,  213  (see  Treaty) 

,  Massacre,  221 

T'ien-tsz,  22 

Tiger  worship,  104 

Timur,  Khan,  185 

Ting  Chou,  130 

Tobolsk,  233,  234 

Toba  Tartars,  70,  89,  105,  109 

Tobar,  Rev.  J.,  S.J.,  165 

Toghun  Timur,  18S 

Togo,  Admiral,  71 

Tokhara,  107,  112,  128,  140 

Toktamish  Khan,  233 

Tokugawa  regime,  269 

Tokyo,  244 

Tolerance  of  China,  a,  6,  15,  340 

T6I0S  Turks,  116 

Tolstoy,  41 

Tombs,  7i,  103,  255 

in  Persia,  146 


Tomlin,  missionary,  211 
Tonquin  Christians,  224 
Tournaments,  religious,  10,  97,  128, 

180,  182 
Tournon,  Bishop,  200 
Trade,  84,  144,  161,  196 

routes,  13 

,  sea,  117,  144,  190 

Traders,  226 

Transmigration  of  souls,  81,  83 
Transoxiana,  128,  183 
Treaty,  Nanking,  212 

,  Russian,  236 

,  tampering,  205 

,  Tientsin,  209,  213,  237,  241 

Tribes,  non-Chinese,  22 

Tributary  states,  236,  242 

Trigault,  Nicholas,  172 

Trinity,  the,  122 

"  True  religion,"  1 16 

Tseng,  Marquess,  225 

Tseng-tsz,  60 

Ts'i    country,    (see    Lu,    and    Shan 

Tung) 
Ts'i,  Southern,  70,  89,  91,  134 
Ts'i,  Tartar  (see  Tobas) 
Tsin,  dynasty,  85,  86,  133 
Ts'in,  dynasty,  49,  73,  93 
Ts'ing-chen  temples,  166 
Ts'in,  Kingdom,  181  (see  Ta-ts'in) 
Ts'in,  State,  30,  68 
Tso  Tsung-t'ang,  Viceroy,  259 
Ts'ui  Hao,  90 
Tsung-li  Yamen,  223 
Ts'ung-ling,  107 
Tulishen,  234 
T'ungchow,  218 
Tung  Fuh-siang,  158 
Tungusic  peoples,  74,  102 
T'ung-wen  Kwan,  237 
Tunyukuk,  the  Turk,   132 
Turfan,  105,  no,  119,  153 
Tiirgas  tribes,  141 
Turkestan,  105,  144,  183 
Turkish  stocks,  147 
Turks,  92,   102,   109,  141,   176,  235, 

245,  249 

,  Eastern,  116,  147 

,  Northern,  116,  131 

,  Western,  no,  ni,  141,  175 

Two  Kwang,  191 
Tycoons,  the,  269 

Udjana,  87,  98,  107 

United  States,  221,  227 

Urumtsi,  180 

Usbeg  Khan,  232 

Ustad,  Jewish,  167,  170,  185 

Utini,  187 


INDEX 


317 


Vadjrapani  Guards,  135 

Vassal  princes,  27,  39 

Vassily  Leontyeff,  234 

Vasudeva,  76 

Vegetarians,  91,  114 

Verapoly,  Bishop  of,  138 

Verbiest,  197 

Vicariats,  Apostolic,  204 

Vicegerent  of  God,  34,  50,  62,  259 

Victims,  28 

Vihara,  86 

Vimala  sutra  (see  Buddhism) 

Virgin,  the,  122 

Virtues,  nine,  24 

Visdelou,  Bishop,  201 

Visions,  i,  18,  75,  156 

Vladimir,  duchy,  231 

Vladimir,  the  Holy,  231 

Vladislavitch,  236 

Volga,  River,  181,  231 

Volonteri,  Bishop 

Voltaire,  38 

Vows,  Buddhist,  240 

Wade,  Sir  T.,  210,  223 
Wakhan,  91 
Wang  Yang-ming,  71 
War,  China,  214,  237 

,  Laocius  on,  40 

Warrior  castes,  37,  39,  62 
Water  and  worship,  iio 
Watson,  Rev.  John,  267 
Way,  divine,  255 

,  the  right,  39,  248 

Wei  Tao-an,  87,  88 
Wei-wu-r,  148  (see  Ouigour) 
Welsh,  the,  268 
Wesleyans,  221,  267 
West,  chief  of  the,  26 

,  the,  27,  105,  120,  124,  147,  156 

Sea,  107,  112 

Western  Asia,  3,  169,  195 

Regions,  128,  169 

religions,  171,  180,  198 

writers,  233,  263 

White  Caps,  161 

horse  monastery,  85,  117,  195 

horse  sacrifices,  102 

lily  rebels,  193 

races,  77 

Williams,  Dr  S.  W.,  210,  217 
Williamson,  Rev.  A.,  217 


Willow-bush  shooting,  102 

Wine,  54 

Wives,  position  of,  55,  103,  130,  220 

Wizards,  90 

Wolfe,  Archdeacon,  220 

Women  and  Buddhism,  81,  130,  140 

,  position  of,  27,  44,  55,  64,  118 

Wooden  books,  33,  49 
Worship,  ancestral,  29 

of  sun  and  moon,  102 

Writing  materials,  33,  49 

systems,  33,  105,  106,  108,  132, 

151,  251,  256 
Wuhu,  225 
Wylie,  Alexander,  213 

Xanadu  (see  Shang-tu),  150,  185 
Xavier,  St  F.,  190 

Yahakuvuh,  or  Jacob,  169 

Yaksa,  233 

Yakub  Beg,  157,  259 

Burzug  Khan,  157 

Yang-chou  Fu,  79,  87,  116,  216,  218, 

225 
Yang  Kwang-sien,  196 
Yangtsze  River,  86,  95,  218 

Valley,  130 

Yarkand,  75,  83,  155,  183 

Yates,  Rev.  M.,  218 

Yazdbocet,  128 

Years,  lunar  and  solar,  156 

Yedo  city,  270 

Ye-li-k'o-wen  (see  Erkun),  183 

Yellow  Emperor,  24,  48 

River,  144,  167,  170 

Sea,  22 

Yen-sheng  Kung,  70 

Yezdegerd,  112,  140 

Yin  and  Yang,  20,  37,  80,  89,  115 

Y6ga  school,  83 

"  Yomei"  philosophy,  71 

Yiian  dynasty,  235 

Yiie-shu-wo,  or  Joshua,  169 

Yiin  Nan,  5,  84,  85,  154,  158,  163,  184 

Zaitun,  185,  188 
Zarafshan  River,  107 
Zechariah,  166 
Ziyad,  General,  141 
Zoroaster,  no 
Zwetkoff,  240 


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3.  TRAVELS  IN  CH^H  KIANG  AND  FUH   KIEN.      N.C.    Branch 

Royal  Asiatic  Society  s  Journal,  vol.  xix.,  part  i.,  pp.  27-93. 

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8.  JOHN  CHINAMAN,  AND  A  FEW  OTHERS.     John  Murray,  1901. 

ETHNOLOGICAL-HISTORICAL 

9.  DR  SVEN  HEDIN,  LOB  NOR,  AND  KHOTAN.      Anglo-Russian 

Society's  Journal,  Jan.,  1903,  and  April,  1903. 

10.  A  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF   THE  TARTARS.     Kelly  and  Walsh, 

Shanghai,  I S95.     1-37 1,  8vo.     Sampson  Low  and  Co. 

11.  BURMA.     Rangoon  Gazette  O^cq,  1893.     I-102,  8vo. 

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HUNG,  ANNAM,  Etc.  Various  Papers  in  the  Asiatic  Quarterly 
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Various  Papers  in  the  Chinese  Recorder,  Shanghai,  1878-96. 

19.  CHINA:    REVENUE,    RELIGION,     Etc.      Nelson's    Encyclopedia, 

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MALAYA,  CAMBODGIA,  ANNAM,  CHINA,  TIBET,  COREA, 
AND  JAPAN.     Hong  Kong,  China  Mail  Office,  1896.      1-136,  4to. 

24.  BUDDHISM  IN  CHINA.     Chinese  Recorder,  1894;  Asiatic  Quarterly 

Review,  Oct.,  1902. 

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COREA,  BURMA,  Etc.     Dublin  Review,  1896. 

26.  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  CHINESE.    New  Century  Review,  1899. 

27.  CONFUCIUS.     Oriental  College,  Woking,  1896. 

28.  NESTORIAN    INSCRIPTION    OF    SI-AN    FU.      Dtiblin   Review, 

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28A.  TAOISM  AND  THE  TAO-TE^H  KING.     Dublin  Review,  July  and 
Oct.  1903,  and  Jan.  1904. 

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29.  POPULATION    AND    REVENUE    OF    CHINA.     Otia    Mtrsiana, 

University  College,  Liverpool,  1899. 

30.  POPULATION  OF  CHINA.     Royal  Statistical  Soc.  Journal,  1899. 

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